Williams Mikey Williams of TNT battles Gab Banal and Rashawn McCarthy of Blackwater in their PBA Governors’ Cup game at the Mall of Asia Arena. PBA photo

Pogoy’s day

February 16, 2023 Robert Andaya 442 views

RR Pogoy and former NBA campaigner Rondae Hollis-Jefferson combined for 77 points as the TNT Tropang Giga blasted Blackwater Bossing, 138-116, in the PBA Governor’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Pogoy became the first local player to breach the 40-point mark in the season-ending conference, making 7-of-13 three-point shooting while adding nine rebounds, Hollis-Jefferson, who replaced Jalen Hudson as TNT import, finished with a near triple-double performance of 37 points on 14-of-23 shooting om top of 13 rebounds and seven assists in 35 minutes of action.

Equally impressive was San Miguel Beer, which outplayed nlNorthPort, 145-132, to share the lead with TNT with 6-1 win-loss slates.

Mikey Williams had 14 points, Glenn Khobuntin had 14 and Calvin of coach Jojo Lastimosa to get their fourth straight victory and a 6-1 record overall.

Import Troy Williams led the losing effort of Blackwater with 22 points on 7-of-20 shooting in 29 minutes of action.

Williams also had seven rebounds and six assists.

Williams, however, was clearly bothered by early foul trouble as he finished almost 25 points below his average, in three games with the Bossing.

Jvee Casio added 21 points for the Bossing of coach Ariel Vanguardia.

RK Ilagan added 15 points, followed by Tyrus Hill with 11 and Rashawn McCarthy with 10.

Actually, the Tropang Giga had more rebounds than the Bossing, 67-44, and more assists, 28-24.

“Magandang kumpiyansa ito, as a player, nag ganito kainit ‘yung three-points ko,” said Pogoy, who went into the game averaging only 19.7 points.

“Sana nga, tuloy-tuloy,” added Pogoy.

Lastimosa also had good words for his new import.

“He could drive, he attacks a lot of defense and not only that I think he improved a little bit our coverage in the interior,” said Lastimosa.

The loss was Blackwater’s fifth straight and sixth in seven games.

San Miguel turned to import Cameron Clark, who finished with 44 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and June Mar Fajardo, who added 29 points and 12 rebounds, to roll back NorthPort.

Three other players also scored 12 points or nore for San Miguel, which bounced back from 103-107 setback to Converge last Feb. 11.

Kevin Murphy had 39 pointds and 13 rebounds in only his secind game for the Batang Pier, who dropped to 0-6.

Meanwhile, the PBA returns at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. with a doubleheader pitting Rain or Shine against Terrafirma at 4:30 p.m. and NLEX against Magnolia at 6:45 p.m.

The scores:

First game

TNT (138) — Pogoy 40, Hollis-Jefferson 37, M. Williams 14, Khobuntin 13, Oftana 11, K.Williams 7, Chua 6, Cruz 4, Montalbo 4, Acuno 2, Varilla 0, Marcelo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Blackwater (116) — T. Williams 22, Casio 21, Ilagan 16, Hill 15, McCarthy 11, Taha 10, Sena 3, Amer 3, Ayonayon 3, Torralba 3, Banal 2, Ular 2, Escoto 2, Suerte 2, DiGregorio 1.
Quarterscores: 31-22, 68-50, 111-87, 138-116.

Second game

San Miguel (145) – Clark 44, Fajardo 29, Perez 24, Lassiter 16, Manuel 12, Cruz 9, Bulanadi 5, Enciso 3, Tautuaa 3, Brondial 0, Ross 0.
NorthPort (132) – Murphy 39, Tolentino 32, Bolick 16, Zamar 14, Calma 11, Chan 9, Caperal 4, Ayaay 4, Munzon 3, Balagasay 0, Taha 0
Quarterscores: 40-36, 72-67, 108-96, 145-132.

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