TNT trips SMB; Greene scores 41

Game today (Batangas City)

5 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs Star

MANILA, Philippines - Donte Greene provided the spark and the fire when he needed to, and did so with a flourish with a personal PBA high 41 points and 21 rebounds as TNT KaTropa bucked the absence of three stalwarts in toppling San Miguel Beer, 112-103, to secure an automatic playoff entry in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Greene himself and Larry Fonacier came through in time of crisis as the Texters snapped the Beermen’s unbeaten streak and claimed an outright berth in the quarterfinals with a sixth win against two losses.

The Beermen, falling behind by as many as 14, charged to within two points in the last two minutes, but Greene and Fonacier rifled in clutch baskets to rescue the Texters from impending disaster in the game they played minus Jayson Castro, Troy Rosario and RR Pogoy.

Fonacier drained two triples in the last 1:26 of play, the second one giving them a 110-101 lead before eventually dealing the Beermen a first loss in six starts.

SMB import Charles Rhodes also played big in the absence of June Mar Fajardo, piling up 43 points and eight rebounds.

But losing the rebounding battle, 46-58, was a big blow to the Beermen.

“We’re just fortunate today wala si June Mar. It gave us a pretty good chance. It’s also nice that while we lost three players to the Gilas program, our guys were really ready to step up, step forward and contribute,” said TNT coach Nash Racela.

“The contribution of Donte was phenomenal,” Racela added.

Earlier, Jameel McKay and RJ Jazul sprang back from woeful games the last time out as they assumed the stellar roles in Phoenix Petroleum’s come-from-behind 84-72 win over GlobalPort to close in on a playoff passage.

McKay powered his way to 22 points and 20 rebounds while Jazul came through with 21 markers in his most productive game in a Phoenix uniform as the Fuel Masters firmed up their hold of eighth spot at 4-5, now a full game and a half ahead of the Batang Pier (2-6) and the Blackwater Elite (2-6), respectively.

“It was a very crucial win. A loss would have dropped us to ninth and got them up to eighth,” said Phoenix coach Ariel Vanguardia, thankful his wards responded on his tirade during their halftime huddle.

“We had an ugly halftime talk. I was really pissed as we’re playing individual basketball. I was hard on them to play what we should play and to play with pride,” Vanguardia pointed out.

McKay, Jazul and their teammates put their act together in the second half to turn the game around.

NOTES: NLEX and Mahindra sealed a trade deal involving Alex Mallari, Glenn Khobuntin and Eric Camson before closing out their ill-fated Commissioner’s Cup campaigns. The Road Warriors, with an atrocious 2-17 mark from the Philippine Cup, continued to overhaul their lineup, acquiring Mallari, Kenneth Ighalo and a future Mahindra draft pick in exchange for Khobuntin and Camson. NLEX earlier got Rabeh Al-Hussaini in a trade with Meralco and enlisted Juami Tiongson from the free agent pool.

The scores:

First Game

PHOENIX 84 – McKay 22, Jazul 21, Baguio 8, Lanete 6, Eriobu 6, Torres 5, Borboran 4, Alolino 4, Dehesa 4, Kramer 2, W. Wilson 2, Intal 0, J. Wilson 0.

GLOBALPORT 72 – Pringle 25, White 16, Cortez 12, Aban 7, Quiñahan 4, Forrester 3, Pessumal 3, Mamaril 2, Maierhofer 0, Ababou 0, Urbiztondo 0. 

Quarterscores: 14-28, 27-36, 57-55, 84-72

Second Game

TNT 112 – Greene 41, Williams 15, Fonacier 14, Garcia 12, Tautuaa 11, Carey 6, Reyes 5, Rosales 4, De Ocampo 4.

SAN MIGUEL 103 – Rhodes 43, Ross 17, Lassiter 17, Santos 11, Cabagnot 7, Espinas 6, De Ocampo 2, Heruela 0, Tubid 0.

Quarterscores: 27-16, 53-42, 79-70, 112-103