Rondae Hollis Jefferson and Calvin Oftana celebrate a basket as TNT Tropang Giga beat Hong Kong Easter in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
TNT cut short the guest participation of quarterfinal opponent Hong Kong Eastern with a 109-93 win Thursday to march into the semifinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Rey Nambatac, Jayson Castro and Poy Erram delivered for the Tropang Giga as they finally got control of the contest in the fourth quarter after seesaw battle and sent the Hong Kong outfit packing after its maiden stint in the Philippines.
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SCHEDULE: 2024-2025 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals
The Tropang Giga advanced to the best-of-seven semis to face either the Converge FiberXers or the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Converge took the opener of their best-of-three affair and will seek a sweep of Rain or Shine Friday at the same venue.
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TNT Tropang Giga import Rondae Hollis Jefferson during a PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals game. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Hollis-Jefferson had 31 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals, Nambatac scored 18, Castro came off the bench to make 16 while Erram had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks to atone for his early ejection in TNT’s 105-84 loss to Eastern in the elims in late-November.
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TNT eventually wore down Eastern, which took a significant dip over the last few weeks as its schedule of playing not just the PBA, but also the domestic Hong Kong A1 Championship and the East Asia Super League eventually took its toll.
Eastern was actually a day removed from losing to the Taoyuan Pilots in an EASL away match in Taiwan, ending its quest to secure a Final Four berth.
Hayden Blankley finished with 24 points and seven rebounds for Eastern.
Eastern was actually leading 57-51 to open the third and had multiple leads of five in the same period before TNT came back.
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Hollis-Jefferson and company eventually padded TNT’s margin in the fourth, with a Calvin Oftana triple making it 101-84 with over five minutes left, leaving Eastern with no answers.
