Ryan Reyes came in hot with his 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the three-point field while the Gin Kings only had 6-of-22 clips from deep from the Gin Kings. 

Tropang Giga won for the second straight time to equalize their record to 4-4 while Ginebra dropped its third straight loss to go down to 3-3.

The 38-year-old veteran went ballistic in the third quarter, nailing five triples for a huge 15-point spurt enabling TNT’s 62-56 lead early in the period to erupt to 77-60 coming from a 15-4 run with 6:27 left.

Ginebra tried to keep up as they closed the gap to nine, 68-77, but Reyes and fellow veteran Jayson Castro conspired with another 17-4 run to take a 94-72 gap with 44 ticks left in the third.

The Tropang Giga peaked with a 32-point gap in the final frame, 118-86, capped by a Brian Heruela jumper with 1:18 remaining. 

“We liked our aggressiveness, and we said we got to figure out a way to [sustain] the aggression without fouling,” said TNT head coach Chot Reyes after the game.

“I think we were fortunate to counter [Ginebra’s] adjustments, and well, we shot the lights out. We wish we could shoot like that every night, but it just makes the game easier,” he added.

Super rookie Mikey Williams led TNT’s early barrage with 15 of his game-high 26 points coming in the first quarter alone while Castro added 18 points alongside four assists and three rebounds in just 13 minutes off the bench.

Longtime Ginebra import Justin Brownlee top-scored Ginebra with 25 points, while Japeth Aguilar finished 14 of his 18 markers in the first period alone.

The majority of the Tropang Giga roster will now focus on their Gilas Pilipinas duties as they will see action for the second window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asia qualifiers, and will return to the PBA on March 4 to face the hapless Blackwater Bossing.

The scores:

TNT 119 – M. Williams 26, Reyes 24, Castro 18, Fuller 13, Khobuntin 9, Montalbo 9, Banal 5, Rosario 4, Heruela 4, Marcelo 3, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, K. Williams 2, Cruz 0, Erram 0, Alejandro 0.

Barangay Ginebra 92 – Brownlee 25, J. Aguilar 18, Standhardinger 16, Thompson 11, Tolentino 9, Tenorio 5, Pinto 4, Chan 2, Caperal 1, Enriquez 1, Ayaay 0.

Quarters: 34-28; 60-53; 94-74; 119-92.