Terrence Jones powers TNT against Meralco

MANILA, Philippines — After taking a backseat scoring-wise, Terrence Jones once more took charge offensively and rifled in 49 big points to lift TNT to a 104-91 clobbering of Meralco and into pole position in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Jones, who played more of an assistman in his triple-double outing last Wednesday (16 assists, 17 markers, 14 boards), came out with guns blazing this time, scorching the Bolts with 18 straight points to start the fourth period and enabling the Katropa to pull away, 99-82, en route to a league-leading 6-1 card.

Ryan Reyes fired 19 spiked by six triples to fill up for the absence of Jayson Castro, who got married yesterday, and Tony Semerad, who sat it out due to injury.

“Everybody, especially Ryan, stepped up. Jayson and Tony were not playing but the rest of the guys stepped up and played hard, knowing the importance of this game for us,” said TNT coach Bong Ravena, whose wards streaked to their third straight win, all in lopsided fashion.

It was Jones who turned it notches higher in the Petron Blaze Saturday matchup.

The former NBA player connected on seven of his 11 attempts from beyond the arc to pave the way for his 49-pointer, the most since Romeo Travis’ 50 in Game Four of the 2018 Governors’ Cup semis, and the highest output for the franchise since the 51 of Asi Taulava in the 2004 Fiesta Conference. Jones laced his explosion with 18 rebounds, and four feeds.

“Tremendous game again from Terrence. Hopefully every game he makes 40-up so it will be easier for us. The locals must step up also,” said Ravena.

Phoenix Pulse arrested a three-match skid with a 78-76 squeaker over Alaska, giving tactician Louie Alas a triumphant return after his two-game suspension.

Justin Chua hit the marginal lay-up from a perfectly-timed feed from Alex Mallari with 9.8 ticks left as the Fuel Masters improved to 2-3 while halting the three-game roll of the Aces, who fell to 4-3.

The scores: 

 First Game

TNT 104 – Jones 49, Reyes 19, Trollano 16, Rosario 11, Pogoy 4, Heruela 3, Taha 2, Golla 0, D. Semerad 0, Casino 0, Magat 0.

Meralco 91 – Newsome 32, Taylor 13, Amer 9, Almazan 9, Jackson 7, Salva 6, Hodge 5, Canaleta 5, Espinas 3, Quinto 2, Caram 0, Hugnatan 0, De Ocampo 0, Jamito 0.

Quarterscores: 24-22, 52-49, 81-68, 104-91

Second Game

Phoenix 78 – Howell 24, Mallari 15, Wright 14, Chua 10, Intal 6, Revilla 6, Perkins 2, Jazul 1, Kramer 0, Marcelo 0, Wilson 0, Dennison 0.

Alaska 76 – Banchero 18, Manuel 10, Thoss 8, Racal 8 Teng 6, Johnson 6, Casio 6, Cruz 6, Pascual 2, Enciso 2, Exciminiano 2, Ayaay 2, Galliguez 0. 

Quarterscores: 16-12, 35-30, 52-50, 78-76