(UPDATED) Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Calvin Oftana teamed up to help Talk 'N Text finish Meralco in Game 4 of their best-of-five semifinal series, 107-92, in the PBA Governors' Cup on Friday.
With the win, the Tropang GIGA arranged a title joust versus defending champion Barangay Ginebra.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson poured in 42 points to go with his 11 rebounds and three assists as Calvin Oftana added 21 points.
Mikey Williams, who put the finishing touches for TNT, delivered 17 markers to close the series, 3-1.
“The players understand the situation, they needed to step up,” said TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa.
“We needed everybody to step in because in the playoff situation points are going to be hard to come by. Rondae had an excellent scoring night but he was helped by his teammates he was able to pass in some occasions and that was a big help,” he added.
KJ McDaniels scored 37 points to go with his 12 rebounds for Meralco.
The Tropang GIGA will begin its best-of-seven duel with Ginebra on Easter Sunday.
Lastimosa is feeling confident especially with the way TNT, a high scoring team, has been exerting effort to improve its defense.
“Going to the series, I like our chances,” he said.
“Our players are playing well. If you noticed we've been winning games during our streak with scoring and right now we’re defending really well. We needed to play defense and offense in this series. I think the guys are going to be ready.”
The scores:
TNT 107 – Hollis-Jefferson 42, Oftana 21, M. Williams 17, Pogoy 16, Castro 9, Erram 2, Chua 0, Varilla 0, Tungcab 0, Khobuntin 0, Montalbo 0.
Meralco 92 – McDaniels 37, Black 19, Banchero 11, Newsome 11, Quinto 7, Almazan 4, Hodge 2, Maliksi 1, Caram 0, Jose 0.
Quarters: 22-22; 53-49; 83-75; 107-92.
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