Rondae Hollis-Jefferson stamped his class as TNT sent San Miguel on the verge of a rare early exit with a 115-97 victory in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, Jan. 26.

The Tropang Giga import was all over the floor and notched a triple-double of 35 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists to spearhead his team to the lopsided win and give TNT a much-needed boost in its bid to claim a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals.

TNT improved to an 8-3 record, just half a game behind league-pacing NorthPort at 9-3 and with a game against Rain or Shine left to its elimination schedule.

SMB, on the other hand, took a major blow to its playoff hopes as it got knocked off the Magic 8 after the defeat.

The Beermen closed out the eliminations with a 5-7 record at the 10th spot and the only way for them to advance to the quarterfinals is if NLEX and Magnolia, which sit at the eighth and ninth spot with 5-6 records, lose their remaining games. 

The Road Warriors are taking on Eastern on Wednesday, Jan. 29, while the Hotshots are playing the Meralco Bolts in the final game day of the eliminations on Friday, Jan. 31.

A win by any of the two teams will automatically eliminate SMB from playoff contention.

RR Pogoy was one of the biggest thorns to the side of SMB as he fired 22 points while Calvin Oftana chipped in 16. Jayson Castro and Poy Erram added 14 apiece.

June Mar Fajardo tried everything to carry SMB, dropping 34 points and 13 rebounds but to no avail. Don Trollano had 13 points but import Malik Pope only had 10 points and CJ Perez mustered nine.