PBA: TNT escapes Magnolia, moves closer to sealing top seed

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson came close to a 30-20 for TNT. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--TNT made one huge step toward sealing the top seed in Group A ahead of the PBA Governors' Cup quarterfinals after edging Magnolia, 84-82, on Tuesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The Tropang Giga heaved a sigh of relief in the end as Paul Lee botched what could have been the game-turning steal and sealed the win outright against the Hotshots, who still showed heart despite losing "Iron Man" Mark Barroca late into the contest.

With Magnolia's defense swarming Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Kelly Williams threw an errant pass with Paul Lee getting the steal instead with a chance to potentially force overtime with a four-pointer.

However, Lee, while trying to evade Hollis-Jefferson, fumbled the ball and lost it out of bounds, giving the ball back to TNT with 11.2 seconds to go.

The Tropang Giga finally completed the inbound pass to Hollis-Jefferson, and the import, who was struggling from the free-throw line, passed the ball in time to Jayson Castro before he got fouled.

Castro swished both his free throws to up their lead back to six, 84-78.

Jerrick Ahanmisi hit a four-pointer with 1.1 seconds left that cut the lead down to two, but the Tropang Giga got to inbound the ball again to Hollis-Jefferson to ice the Tropang Giga's win.

Despite going 9-of-14 from the charity stripe, Hollis-Jefferson still had a dominating game with 29 points, 25 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and four blocks for TNT, now a full game ahead of Meralco for the top spot at 7-1.

RR Pogoy added 19 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Shabazz Muhammad fired 30 points, 17 rebounds, one assist, and two blocks for Magnolia, which dropped to a tie with Converge for third place in Group A at 4-4.

The FiberXers can take solo third place on Wednesday night if they beat the Bolts also at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno