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TNT Tropang Giga will have to play flawlessly in the remainder of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals as they face an overwhelming 1-3 against the Barangay Geneva Gin Kings.
The Tropang Giga was pushed against the wall by the Gin Kings after a 98-88 loss in Game Four last Sunday night at the University of Angeles Foundation Sports and Cultural Center in Angeles, Pampanga.
TNT is now in a win-or-go-home situation and must sweep the remaining three games to pull off a gigantic surprise that only a few teams had managed to pull off in the 45-year history of Asia’s first professional basketball league.
Injury problems are looming for TNT’s first season in the All-Filipino Cup Finals in seven years, as top scorer Ray Parks Jr. did not play after Game 1, who is still recovering from a strain in the league. left calf.
The injury problem mounted for Tropang Giga when veteran Jayson Castro compounded a knee problem in Game 4. The ace guard fell with 9:35 remaining in the third inning.
He drove to the basket and dropped the ball to Poy Erram for a layup, but was slow to get up after the play. Castro needed help getting back to the bank. He did not return to the game.
Castro just registered 17 minutes for 2 points, two assists and two rebounds. It remains to be seen if Parks and Castro will play in the all-important Game 5.
With Castro and Parks out in Game 4, Roger Pogoy showed his usual lethal form and took matters into his own hands and led a valiant rally only to come up short in the closing minutes of the fourth period.
Cebuano guard Pogoy hit three consecutive triples in the final 2:30 of the game to push TNT to three points after losing as many as 18 points.
Guinevere, however, had the answer in every Pogoy shot, as LA Tenorio fired his own three-point volley to keep TNT at bay. Pogoy’s 36-point outburst went to naught as TNT observes a 1-3 deficit.
Tenorio burned TNT when he scored eight of his 22 points in the deciding moment. He also had six assists and three steals.
Scottie Thompson flirted with a triple-double of 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine dimes, Japeth Aguilar added 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Stanley Pringle finished with 16 markers for the Gin Kings.
Tropang Giga lost the first two games and recovered in Game Three before losing again in Game Four.
Geneva could end the series tomorrow night and TNT avoid having to fire all their guns from the headlines and the guys on the bench.
The Tropang Giga will feature Pogoy, Poy Erram, Simon Enciso, Troy Rosario also from veterans Jay Washington and Ryan Reyes.
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