Apparently, the seven-month PBA season hiatus did not cool down the hot shooting of Roger Pogoy.

Pogoy put on a shooting clinic in the first game of the Philippine Cup reboot and scorched hot for 45 points to lead TNT to a come-from-behind 100-95 victory over Alaska.

His new career-high in points is the most by a local player since Stanley Pringle dropped 50 points for NorthPort in 2018.

“I’m thankful that I had a good shooting night. I was able to help the team and we got the win,” Pogoy said in Filipino.

Rust has been a concern for players, especially since PBA teams stopped practicing since March due to the pandemic and only resumed training in August – less than two months before the season restart.

But Pogoy did not seem to lose a step, hitting 17 of his 29 field goals and 10 of his 17 three-pointers and adding 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

Scoreless in the maiden period, the fourth-year guard erupted for 21 points in a blistering second-quarter display as the Tropang Giga knotted the score at halftime after trailing by as many as 17 points.

Pogoy now ranks third all-time for most points scored by a local in TNT franchise history after Asi Taulava, who once delivered 50 and 49 points, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon.

His dazzling performance has put him in the early conversation of Bubble MVP, but Pogoy said he has to be consistent first.

“The hardest thing to do is to sustain this kind of game,” Pogoy said. “As long as we’re winning and I’m playing good, those are my only focus.”

With their first game in the books, Pogoy and TNT have a day to prepare before facing Terra Firma on Tuesday, October 13. – Rappler.com