TNT Tropang Giga vs Seoul SK Knights in the Korean Basketball League. –EASL PHOTO
UTSUNOMIYA, JAPAN—Playing with spunk this time out, TNT on Friday night played better. The result, however, was hardly any different.
The Tropang Giga faltered against the Seoul SK Knights, 80-69, to officially bow out of the East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week at Nikkan Arena here.
Calvin Oftana had 16 points, while Mikey Williams had 13 points and five rebounds. Roger Pogoy chipped in nine more for a refined play by the local cast. Daniel Ochefu was also a picture of improvement, putting up 12 points and 12 rebounds.
TNT looked like it belonged on the same floor with the Korean champions until the Knights used an 11-0 run early in the final frame to take command as the Tropang Giga slumped to a second straight defeat.
It also didn’t help that Jayson Castro missed the match because of a sprained right wrist.
“It was obviously a better game than the last time. One practice session went a long way to get Daniel accustomed to how we play, basically,” said assistant Josh Reyes, who stood in for interim coach Jojo Lastimosa.
“I thought we really competed out there. We were competitive with our rebounding until that dropped in the end,” he added.
The rebounding game was truly key for the Knights as their imports, Jameel Warney and Leon Williams, combined for 40 boards, which was just four shy of TNT’s total.
Warney also had 21 points to match Kim Sun-hyung’s output, while Williams added 20 to propel the Knights atop Group B at 2-0.
While the botched campaign should irk fans at home, the young Reyes is hoping that it could pave the way for something better when TNT resumes its bid in the PBA Governors’ Cup, where the club owns the best record (8-1).
“We hope that the lessons here will be able to help us along the way in our campaign in the PBA,” he said.
The Philippines is still in play in the five-day showcase, though, with San Miguel Beer, looking to pick itself up after a 28-point beatdown from a Japanese squad, shooting for a breakthrough win against another Korean side in Anyang KGC Saturday in Okinawa.
The Beermen, though, will have to pull it out with June Mar Fajardo ruled out for the rest of the tournament pending results of a knee examination.
That game is slated at 3 p.m. Manila time, with the Beermen still licking the wounds of a 96-68 blowout loss to Ryukyu on Thursday.
“From the start, we just couldn’t develop our plays,” said coach Jorge Gallent. “We just, you know, got to adjust. That’s all there is to it. I think [it took us] too long to adjust.”
San Miguel has no choice but to pin much of its hopes on Cameron Clark and CJ Perez who carried the club throughout that losing stand.