TNT nears PBA Ph Cup Finals

Sports

THE TNT Tropang 5G need just one more win to earn yet another championship berth.

The Tropa pounded the Meralco Bolts, 102-83, to grab a commanding 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven semifinal series of the 50th PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Poy Erram carried the Tropa on his shoulders in the Game 4 win, going 9-of-11 from the field to finish with a game-high 27 points.

Meralco came into the match without injured main man Chris Newsome but TNT also dealt with its own manpower woes as RR Pogoy sat out due to a hamstring injury.

With the two squads short-handed, it was TNT that showed deeper bench as aside from Erram, three other Tropa scored in double figures that helped the squad bounce back from an 89-97 loss in Game 3.

Jordan Heading pitched in 15 markers, Calvin Oftana delivered 14 markers and Kim Aurin had 10.

Chris Banchero scored 19 points, Cliff Hodge and CJ Cansino each had 17 markers but the Bolts shot themselves in the foot by making just one of their 12 attempts from three-point area.

TNT attempted 31 triples and made 12.

THE SCORES:

TNT (102) - Erram 27, Heading 15, Oftana 14, Aurin 10, Williams 7, Ferrer 7, Galinato 7, Rosser 6, Khobuntin 4, Jalalon 2, Nieto 2, Hill 1, Enciso 0, Nambatac 0.

MERALCO (83) - Banchero 19, Hodge 17, Cansino 17, Caram 8, Black 8, Almazan 7, Quinto 3, Rios 2, Maliksi 2, Bates 0, Jose 0.QUARTERSCORES: 20-19, 45-38, 72-56, 102-83.(CCM)