PBA: TNT bounces back, fends off Magnolia

RR Pogoy. PBA IMAGES

ANTIPOLO CITY — Still licking its wounds from a meltdown, TNT on Friday night made sure it won’t suffer a repeat of that disaster by holding off hard-fighting Magnolia, 93-85, at Ynares Center here.

Roger Pogoy put up 20 points and five rebounds while Calvin Oftana, Mikey Williams and import Jalen Hudson all finished with 14 each to help the Tropang Giga recover from a stunning loss to NLEX and improve to a 3-1 win-loss record in the Governors’ Cup.

“I think 40 of that 48 minutes against NLEX, we played great basketball. The challenge for (the players) today was to sustain the energy,” said interim coach Jojo Lastimosa.

“That should be a lesson learned. And they’ve proven they’re good students. They executed down the stretch, they were aggressive, at some times they were smart about the ball and I think that was just the big difference. I think we were just smarter than we were against NLEX,” he went on.

Paul Lee had 24 points for Magnolia in a gallant performance that tried to will the club back on top. Calvin Abueva bucked an early knee problem and finished with 12 while import Erik McCree finished just as much. Jio Jalalon chipped in 10 more, but the Hotshots just couldn’t complete the comeback which ultimately doomed them to a 0-2 record.

On tap for TNT is red-hot Converge. Magnolia, meanwhile, plays San Miguel Beer next