TNT blasts Phoenix in heated game featuring 6 ejections

PBA IMAGES

The game between Phoenix and TNT got heated quickly on Sunday at Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Fuel Masters head coach Louie Alas and forward Jason Perkins and KaTropa consultant Mark Dickel and Semerad twins Anthony and David were all ejected just less than three minutes into the game.

The scuffle started after things got testy between Anthony and Phoenix import Rob Dozier just as TNT was about to inbound the ball.

Alas was tossed for flagrant misconduct, the Semerads and Perkins were thrown out for fighting stance while Dickel was sent out after throwing the ball at an official.

“I thank the team and the players for staying in the game. They kept their composure,” said TNT coach Bong Ravena, whose squad had the last laugh after coming away with a 114-88 win, their third in four starts. “I just told them to stay in the game and play harder.”

Things nearly got out of hand again late in the game and to no one’s surprise, Fuel Masters forward Calvin Abueva got himself in trouble anew for the second straight game.

Abueva got ejected after he clotheslined TNT import Terrence Jones with 7:03 left in the fourth quarter.

The 31-year-old Abueva on Saturday was penalized by Phoenix for his actions late in the Fuel Masters’ 103-98 victory over the Blackwater Elite Friday night.

Abueva, who was deducted P20,000 off his salary by the Fuel Masters, was called out by Elite guard Ray Parks after their game.

Parks claimed Abueva cursed and made lewd gestures toward his girlfriend and actress Maika Rivera.

Jones returned to his dominant ways, firing 40 points that went with 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals four nights after being held to just 14 points in a blowout loss to NorthPort.

Roger Pogoy added a career-high 31 points while Jayson Castro registered the first triple-double of his career, as per the league’s chief statistician Fidel Mangonon, with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for TNT.

The KaTropa delivered the knockout punch at the start of the fourth quarter when they went on a 20-2 tear in the first six minutes of the period.