RHJ drops 45 as TNT draws first blood in QF series vs. NLEX

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson came up with a monster double-double to power TNT to a 107-102 win over NLEX in Game 1 of their best-of-five quarterfinals series on Wednesday in the PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. 

The lefty reinforcement came alive in the second half as they overcame an early 13-point deficit en route to a 45-point outing alongside 10 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals to help the defending champions Tropang Giga draw first blood. 

"Being the import, you're gonna see different defenses, different guys at you so I think it was just about me seeing how things are going," Hollis-Jefferson said. 

"I didn't wanna force anything, I still tried to be aggressive. I still wanted to assert my presence. So it was just about finding the balance."

Down by two in the final 2:47, Hollis-Jefferson fueled their late rally by sinking two freebies followed by five straight points from Calvin Oftana, whose three-pointer from the top of the key sent TNT to a 100-91 cushion. 

DeQuan Jones, though, retaliated by knocking down a floater and a stepback four-point shot to cut the deficit to just five with 26.7 seconds left to play, 102-97. Hollis-Jefferson, however, was steady on the line after completing five free throws to put the punctuation. 

RR Pogoy supplied the local support with 13 points, five rebounds. four steals, and othree assists while Jayson Castro chipped in 12 markers, five boards, five dimes and two swats.

Jones finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds, one assist, and one steal while Enoch Valdez and Baser Amer chipped in 11 markers apiece in the loss as Robert Bolick was limited to just 10 points. 

Scores:

TNT 107 – Hollis-Jefferson 45, Pogoy 13, Castr 12, Nambatac 11, Williams 9, Oftana 8, Khobuntin 7, Erram 7, Erram 2, Aurin 0, Exciminiano 0, Heruela 0.

NLEX 102 – Jones 38, Valdez 11, Amer 11, Bolick 10, Rodger 9, Mocon 8, Miranda 7, Semerad 3, Torres 3, Policarpio 2.

Quarters : 24-29, 41-49, 73-71, 107-102.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News