MANILA, Philippines — TNT completely dominated San Miguel Beer, 118-92 in the battle between two powerhouse squads during last Saturday’s PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup match at the Araneta Coliseum.
NBA veteran Bol Bol stood at the forefront of TNT’s red-hot first quarter offensive, helping the reigning champion race to a 35-16 lead, thanks to its scorching 65 percent shooting in the first 12 minutes of play.
The Tropang 5G never looked back.
The 7-foot-3 Bol sizzled with 34 points, hauled down 18 rebounds and a block for TNT, which improved to 2-1. Calvin Oftana added 18 points , Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser had 13, while free agent pick up Justin Chua chipped in 11.
The lopsided win was something basketball fans had long been anticipating since TNT successfully signed up Bol, who played for the Denver Nuggets, the Orlando Magic and the Phoenix Suns in six NBA seasons.
TNT actually opened the conference with a shock 109-112 loss to Rain or Shine last week, before bouncing back with a hard-earned 103-99 win against NLEX.
But against the Beermen, the Tropang 5G were fired up, having lost to the coach Leo Austria-led squad in six games during the Season 50 Philippine Cup Finals.
The Beermen dropped to 1-2.
Marcus Lee had his best scoring output for SMB with 30 points on an efficient 12-of-16 shooting, along with 12 rebounds.
June Mar Fajardo added 15 and 20 boards, but the nine-time league Most Valuable Player and Lee ran into foul trouble.
CJ Perez shot just 4-of-16 to finish with 12 points, the same output of Don Trollano, who missed six of his 10 attempts.
The Beermen missed the services of veterans Chris Ross and Jericho Cruz.