Tropang 5G showing strong resolve

Although it was Rey Nambatac who rescued the Tropang 5G from the jaws of defeat with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, Reyes commended the whole team for a job well done on a rainy Tuesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

“Well, you hardly hear me talk about character in post-game interviews because for me character is what’s within and we don’t have to talk about it to demonstrate it,” said Reyes, whose squad leveled its win-loss record in Group A to 2-2.

“But I thought tonight was definitely a gutsy character win.”

Aside from the challenge of overhauling a 3-20 first quarter deficit, sparked by the FiberXers’ 16-0 blitz, TNT also had to deal with the loss of starters Jordan Heading and RR Pogoy to injuries in the third quarter.

Trailing by 10, the Tropang 5G saw Heading exit the game with a left shoulder injury after attempting layup with 4:33 left in the period.

Making matters worse for TNT was Pogoy hyperextending his right knee on a layup attempt just a minute after Heading called it a night.

Injuries have already decimated Reyes’ lineup with Calvin Oftana, Jayson Castro, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and JP Erram already in sick bay. Veteran big man Kelly Williams, on the other hand, is on leave.

“We could have folded so many times. When they got on the 16, 17-point lead right off the bat, we could have folded. We could have folded when we lost Jordan and then when we lost Roger,” Reyes said.

“But still, the guys continued playing. You can see how deep I had to dig to put Tyrus Hill and Paul Varilla in (the rotation). But they contributed and allowed this guy beside me (Nambatac) to come up with his endgame heroics.”

Reyes also commended Sean Quitevis, Kim Aurin and Henry Galinato for their contributions on the defensive end.

“But I thought the defense of Sean Quitevis and the defense of Kim Aurin on Mikey Williams in the fourth quarter was crucial. I thought Henry Galinato played an excellent game. Overall, we don’t know the state of our health, but it’s a great win to have,” Reyes said.

Still, it was Nambatac that made the biggest play of the game.

Nambatac gave TNT a 107-103 lead with 12.6 seconds left on a triple but Converge import Jamaal Franklin answered with four free throws after drawing a foul from Quitevis while attempting a four-pointer with 9.1 seconds left to knot the count.

Nambatac brought the ball down TNT’s side, drove hard to the right elbow before getting his defender Alec Stockton slipping off balance for the game-winning triple.

“It was just a next-man-up (mentality). That’s our team character in this game because Jordan got injured and Roger also was injured, so everyone inside the court had to step up,” said Nambatac, who scored a team-high 30 points.

“I’m one of the leaders in this team so I need to show my teammates that even though we’re depleted, we’ll still fight as long as there’s still pieces playing inside.”

TNT’s character will once again be tested on San Miguel Beer at the Mall of Asia Arena with returning import Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson suiting up as a replacement for Darius Days.