At Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Thursday, TNT easily defeated Eastern 109-93 to progress to the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.

The Tropang Giga advanced to their second Final Four appearance of the season thanks to 31 points, 15 rebounds, and three steals from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and 13 of his 16 points from Jayson Castro in the crucial third quarter.

In the best-of-seven semifinals that will follow Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the February FIBA window, the second-seeded TNT will face either Converge or Rain or Shine after sending home the visitor team from Hong Kong.

After the foreign team suffered its third consecutive defeat, including two in the elimination round, it was game over.
At the end of the third, the Tropang Giga had a decisive 80-73 lead.

Chris McLaughlin was replaced by Cameron Clark, who was clearly impacted by a heavily taped injury to his left leg. Despite shooting 5 of 12 from the field and pulling down eight rebounds, he finished with 16 points.

Poy Erram contributed 15 points for TNT, and Rey Nambatac contributed 18 points and four rebounds.

Hayden Blankley finished with 24 points and 7 rebounds for Eastern, who participated in the EASL and the domestic league in Hong Kong but struggled in the final stages of the Commissioner’s Cup.

The Scores

TNT 109 – Hollis-Jefferson 31, Nambatac 18, Castro 16, Erram 15, Oftana 12, Williams 6, Pogoy 6, Aurin 4, Khobuntin 1.

Eastern 93 – Blankley 24, Clark 16, Yang 14, Lam 11, Chan 9, Zhu 8, Guinchard 5, Xu 4, Cao 2, Leung 0.

Quarter scores: 27-24; 51-50; 80-73; 109-93.

In addition to attempting to lead TNT to yet another PBA title, Rondae Hollis Jefferson is preparing for yet another significant task in the weeks ahead.

The TNT import will have to compete in the Commissioner’s Cup semifinals during Ramadan, which is a time for all Muslims around the world to fast, pray, and contemplate.

By the end of the month, when Ramadan officially starts, the Tropang Giga are already competing in the best-of-seven semifinals against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters or Converge FiberXers.

Since Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset, Hollis-Jefferson would once more attend the game while fasting.

Although it’s a challenging duty, particularly for an athlete like him, the TNT newcomer claimed that he is already accustomed to it.

In fact, Hollis-Jefferson played throughout Ramadan two years ago during his initial stint with the telecom team, which ultimately resulted in a 2023 Governors’ Cup championship finish.

Although it’s a challenging undertaking, the former NBA star acknowledged that his body has adapted to it. 

“I try to really exert myself the first week to kind of get my body adjusted, to get acclimated and feeling how I feel. Not having much water in my system and later on the day, you took about 4 o’clock, 5 o’clock and you’re almost there and you’re almost able to drink but you can’t,” Hollis-Jefferson described how Ramadan is for him and other Muslims worldwide.

“Those are the moments you really want to try to see and exert yourself and push yourself to the next level.”