TNT KaTropa survived an explosive 49-point outing from Phoenix Fuel Masters import Brandon Brown to nail a 110-103 victory in the Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup Friday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Brown, who scored 34 points in the second half, also grabbed 19 boards, five assists, five steals and four blocks.
Unfortunately, his monster game wasn’t enough to rescue Phoenix (2-6) which lost its sixth straight outing after allowing TNT (3-2) unleash a late 7-0 run.
TNT import Glen Rice Jr. had his own outburst, scoring 38 points, nine rebounds and five assists to bounce back from a subpar debut.
Kelly Williams added 18 markers as RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro, who returned from national team duty, chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Another Gilas Pilipinas standout Matthew Wright also made his PBA comeback. He struggled in his return, scoring 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting.
The scores:
TNT 110 – Rice Jr. 38, Williams 18, De Ocampo 14, Pogoy 13, Castro 11, Tautuaa 7, Semerad 7, Lingganay 2, Reyes 0, Carey 0, Hernandez 0.
PHOENIX 103 – Brown 49, Eriobu 12, Wright 11, Intal 10, Jazul 8, Chan 5, Alolino 4, Kramer 2, J. Wilson 2, Dehesa 0.
Quarters: 25-23, 46-49, 86-79, 110-103.