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De Beers made diamonds a luxury, now it’ll make them cheap

DE BEERS, which almost single-handedly created the allure of diamonds as rare, expensive and the symbol of eternal love, now wants to sell you some party jewelry that is anything but.
The company announced on May 29 that it will start selling man-made diamond jewelry at a fraction of the price of mined gems, marking a historic shift for the world’s biggest diamond miner, which vowed for years that it wouldn’t sell stones created in laboratories. The strategy is designed to undercut rival lab-diamond makers, who having been trying to make inroads into the $80-billion gem industry.
De Beers will target younger spenders with its new diamond brand and try to capture customers that have been resistant to splurging on expensive jewelry. The company is betting that it can split the market — with mined gems in luxury settings and engagement rings at the top, and lab-made fashion jewelry aimed at millennials at the bottom.
‘NOT SPECIAL’
“Lab grown are not special, they’re not real, they’re not unique. You can make exactly the same one again and again,” Bruce Cleaver, chief executive officer of De Beers, said in an interview Tuesday.
Unlike imitation gems such as cubic zirconia, diamonds grown in labs have the same physical characteristics and chemical makeup as mined stones. They’re made from a carbon seed placed in a microwave chamber and superheated into a glowing plasma ball. The process creates particles that can eventually crystallize into diamonds in weeks. The technology is so advanced that experts need a machine to distinguish between synthesized and mined gems.
A host of lab-grown diamond makers and retailers have sprung up in recent years. Diamond Foundry, one of the biggest producers, grows diamonds in a California laboratory and has been backed by Leonardo DiCaprio. Warren Buffett’s Helzberg’s Diamond Shops Inc. also sells the stones.
Customers are currently “confused” by the difference between mined and lab-produced diamonds, Cleaver said. De Beers is hoping to create big price gap with its new product, which will sell under the name Lightbox in the US. A 1-carat man-made diamond sells for about $4,000 and a similar natural diamond fetches roughly $8,000. The lab diamonds from De Beers will sell for about $800 a carat.
LOWEST COST
Still, De Beers says that its move isn’t to disrupt existing lab-diamond producers, but create a small, profitable business in its own right.
“Given we are the lowest-cost producer, we can make a good business out of this,” Cleaver said. “We have the tools, why wouldn’t we do this?”
De Beers is so adamant that the man-made diamonds are not competing with mined stones that it will not grade them in the traditional way. That’s a stark contrast to current man-made sellers who offer ratings such as clarity and color, replicating terminology used for natural stones.
“We’re not grading our lab-grown diamonds because we don’t think they deserve to be graded,” Cleaver said. “They’re all the same.”
The pricing strategy will also be different. De Beers plans to charge $200 for a quarter-carat, $400 for a half and $800 for a carat, another sharp break from natural stones that rise exponentially in price the bigger the diamond gets.
MAN-MADE GEMS
While De Beers has never sold man-made diamonds for jewelry before, it’s very good at making them. The company’s Element Six unit is one of the world’s leading producers of synthetic diamonds, which are mostly used for industrial purposes. It has also been producing gem-quality stones for years to help it tell the difference between natural and man-made types and to reassure consumers that they’re buying the real thing.
Man-made gems currently make up a small part of the diamond market, but demand is increasing. Global diamond production was about 142 million carats last year, according to analyst Paul Zimnisky. That compares with lab production of less than 4.2 million carats, according to Bonas & Co.
De Beers has been researching lab-made diamonds since the end of World War II and accelerated its work after a Swedish company synthesized the first diamond in 1953. The company has focused on lab diamonds for industrial uses, but also kept investing in technology for jewelry-grade gems.
The shift to lab-diamond jewelry comes at a sensitive time for De Beers and its relationship with Botswana, the source of three-quarters of its diamonds. The two have a sales agreement that lets the company market and sell gems from Botswana, giving De Beers its power over global prices. The deal will soon be up for negotiation and Botswana is likely to push for more concessions.
On Tuesday, De Beers said it had extensive talks with Botswana about the decision to sell man-made diamonds and the country supports the move. — Bloomberg

Shares seen sideways as foreign outflows persist

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE MAIN INDEX is expected to continue trading sideways in the week ahead, amid concerns on the selling mode seen among foreign investors.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped 1.77% or 133.09 points to finish at 7,630.26 on Friday, recovering after sinking to a one-year trough on Wednesday.
On a weekly basis, the market ended with a 0.23% decrease, with average daily turnover climbing 59% to P8.33 billion. The mining and oil sector rose 2.03%, against services which was sold down by 2.67%. Decliners prevailed for the week at 110, versus 84 gainers.
Villar-led Starmalls, Inc. was the week’s top gainer, climbing 8.4%, following speculation that the company will be used for the family’s entry as the country’s third telco player.
“Local equities were dragged to an intra-week low of 7,461, as international concerns took center stage. The US imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, Italy’s political turmoil created uncertainty on the euro zone’s stability, while crude futures went for a spin,” online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said in a weekly market note.
The online brokerage said while liquidity is present following the Treasury’s award of P66 billion worth of three-year retail bonds, there is continued concern on foreign selling.
“Talks have always centered on net foreign selling — an issue that does not consider the country’s long-term merits. Unless the unloading issue abates, risk appetite will also be tested with upcoming offers this month,” 2TradeAsia.com said.
There are currently two initial public offerings lined up this month: Del Monte Philippines, Inc.’s P17.6-billion issuance and D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Inc.’s P15.6-billion offering.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. will also conduct a P15-billion stock rights offering.
Eagle Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun noted that foreign investors have so far sold around P48 billion worth of Philippine equities, compared to P56 billion in purchases last year.
“This is an indication that the market is bottoming out, that the market can’t go any lower if there aren’t investors willing to sell it down. The best-case scenario is for the index to continue in this congestion area and hold the 7,500 support level,” Mr. Mangun said in a market report.
Mr. Mangun noted 7,500 remains to be a strong support for the main index.
“The 7,500 support level has continued to prove as very strong support both technically and psychologically. Despite all the negative factors in the market right now both locally and abroad, the index still held 7,500. Based on the current market sentiment, the index will continue to trade within this congestion area between 7,500 and 7,830,” he said.
Meanwhile, 2TradeAsia.com placed the market’s immediate support from 7,500 to 7,550, while resistance is from 7,750 to 7,800.

How PSEi member stocks performed — June 1, 2018

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Friday, June 1, 2018.

Analysts’ May inflation rate estimates

HIGHER OIL and food prices drove inflation even faster in May from a year ago to a fresh five-year high, analysts said in a BusinessWorld poll, even as the Finance department said in a bulletin that month-on-month tracking may signal slowing momentum ahead. Read the full story.

G-7 finance chiefs condemn Trump tariffs as allies rebel 

Group of Seven finance chiefs issued a rare rebuke of a member nation, claiming U.S. trade actions could undermine global economic confidence and threaten the effectiveness of the Western alliance.
The statement singled out the Americans, the largest and most important member of the G-7, saying “decisive action” is needed at a leaders summit next week in Quebec. The ministers requested that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin “communicate their unanimous concern and disappointment.”
“The international community is faced with significant economic and security issues, which are best addressed through a united front from G-7 countries,” Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in a “chair’s summary” of the meeting in Whistler, British Columbia. “Members continue to make progress on behalf of our citizens, but recognize that this collaboration and cooperation has been put at risk by trade actions against other members.”
Morneau’s comments came after an acrimonious three days of talks — with Mnuchin on the receiving end of much of the frustration — in which America’s allies protested against President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. With the trade dispute triggering one of the biggest crises in the G-7 since the group’s formation in the 1970s, frictions are poised to spill over into next week’s meetings in Charlevoix, Quebec that Trump will attend. The group includes Canada, France, Italy, Germany, the U.K., Japan and the U.S.
G6+1
“It has been a tense and tough G-7. I would say it has been far more a G-6 plus one than a G-7,” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. The EU has threatened to retaliate with duties on everything from American motorcycles to bourbon.
Before these week’s trade actions, the European Union and Canada had previously been granted temporary exemptions. Japan had already been subject to the tariffs, which the U.S. said were necessary to protect its national security.
At his closing press conference, Mnuchin said that he’s already conveyed the G-7 message to Trump, who he said “has been very clear in wanting to address trade issues.”
“Our objective is to make sure we have fair and balanced trade,” Mnuchin said in the Canadian ski resort town. “I don’t think in any way the U.S. is abandoning its leadership in the global economy. Quite the contrary, we’ve had a massive effort in tax reform in the United States which has had an incredible impact on the U.S. economy.”
U.S. Court
Le Maire opened the door to negotiations over the tariffs, but said the ball is in the U.S. court. “We still have a few days to avoid an escalation. We still have a few days to take the necessary steps to avoid a trade war between the EU and the U.S.,” Le Maire said, adding the EU doesn’t want a trade war.
Mnuchin reiterated that the U.S. will continue to have discussions around possible exemptions to the metal tariffs.
Shortly before the G-7 meeting ended, Trump tweeted that “the United States must, at long last, be treated fairly on trade.”
“If we charge a country ZERO to sell their goods, and they charge us 25, 50 or even 100 percent to sell ours, it is UNFAIR and can no longer be tolerated. That is not Free or Fair Trade, it is Stupid Trade!” the president said, without specifying what tariff rates he was referring to.
Feel-Good Summit
The trade disputes hijacked what was supposed to be a feel-good summit that global finance chiefs initially saw as an opportunity to tout the successes of the global economic upswing. The IMF projects the world economy will grow this year and next at its fastest pace since 2011 and Morneau’s statement did give a nod to the expansion.
Ministers “agreed that the global economy has strengthened since they met last year in Bari and that the expansion is set to persist,” said Morneau, while cautioning the trade dispute is introducing unnecessary risks.
“Concerns were expressed that the tariffs imposed by the United States on its friends and allies, on the grounds of national security, undermine open trade and confidence in the global economy,” it said.
Mnuchin faced so much criticism from his counterparts over the new trade levies that Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said he almost “felt sorry” for the U.S. finance chief.
“He’s not directly in charge of the metal tariffs, so in that sense it was very tough for him,” Aso told reporters. “I felt sorry for him, but I guess it’s not the sort of issue I should sympathize with.”
Despite the divisions at the meeting, the U.S. remains a backer of the alliance of wealthy nations, Mnuchin said.
“We believe in the G-7,” he said. “These are our most important allies. We’ve had long-standing relationships will all these countries.” — Bloomberg

Syria’s Assad to meet Kim in North Korea: KCNA

Seoul, South Korea — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he plans to visit North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang’s state media reported Sunday, potentially becoming the first head of state to meet Kim inside the isolated country.
“I am going to visit the DPRK and meet… Kim Jong Un,” Assad said, the North’s state-run KCNA news agency reported, using the abbreviated version of the country’s official name.
The announcement came as anticipation mounts for a historic nuclear summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12, following a whirlwind round of diplomacy.
“The world welcomes the remarkable events in the Korean peninsula brought about recently by the outstanding political calibre and wise leadership of… Kim Jong Un,” KCNA cited Assad as saying during a meeting with North Korean Ambassador Mun Jong Nam on Wednesday.
The Syrian president’s office refused to comment on the report when contacted by AFP.
Pyongyang and Damascus have maintained warm ties for decades and reportedly shared a military relationship for some years, including during the ongoing Syrian civil war.
Suspicions over chemical weapons trade between Pyongyang and Damascus have been raised in the past by the UN and South Korea.
There were also widespread reports that North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear plant that was destroyed by Israeli bombing in 2007.
Both regimes have been the target of international isolation — Pyongyang over its banned nuclear programme and Damascus for atrocities committed during the seven-year civil war.
Since coming to power in 2011, Kim has not met another head of state in North Korea. He only made his first overseas trip as leader this year, travelling to China to meet President Xi Jinping, an ally of the reclusive regime. — AFP

India urges global planemakers to ‘Make in India’

MUMBAI — India wants to encourage aircraft makers to manufacture in the country, starting with components and moving eventually to complete aircraft, Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Sunday.
In a series of messages on Twitter, Prabhu appealed to Airbus and Boeing Co to participate in the push as part of the government’s flagship “Make In India” campaign, highlighting the growth potential of the booming market, which has been adding passengers and cutting fares.
India’s booming aviation market and economy needs more than 1,000 passenger planes and “many more” cargo planes, Prabhu, who last week visited an Airbus facility in Toulouse in France, wrote in the Twitter post.
Airbus said last year it expected Indian carriers to order 1,750 aircraft over 20 years. Boeing predicted up to 2,100 planes would be sold in the same period. — Reuters

Merkel offers Macron concessions on eurozone reforms

Berlin, Germany — German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a long-awaited answer to French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for ambitious European Union reforms Sunday, offering olive branches on investment and help for debt-mired eurozone member states.
More than a year after Macron took office with the stated mission to bolster the EU and make it more responsive to its citizens, Merkel’s counter-offer comes at a time of heightened concern about the future of the bloc due to political turmoil in Italy and Spain and transatlantic tensions.
Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung ahead of a crunch EU summit this month that Germany as the eurozone’s top economy would support an investment budget whose total would be “at the lower end of the double-digit billions of euros range”.
She said the “rainy day fund”, as it has been dubbed, would serve to help even out economic imbalances between richer and poorer European countries “which need to catch up in the areas of science, technology and innovation”.
“We need quicker economic convergence between the member states,” she said.
“To do that we have to strengthen investment capability with the help of additional structural policies,” she said, adding that the fund would be phased in gradually and then evaluated in terms of its effectiveness.
Although Merkel’s budget target falls short of the range proposed by Macron, it represents a concession of sorts to his view that excessive austerity has undermined faith in the bloc.
‘Don’t wait, act now’
Merkel also addressed plans to upgrade the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which oversees bailout loans to troubled member states, such as Greece, into a European Monetary Fund.
“We aim to make ourselves a little more independent of the International Monetary Fund,” she said.
She proposed offering short-term credit lines to stricken countries, but maintained strict conditions for support: “always subject to special conditions of course, for a limited amount and with complete repayment”.
Germany and France, traditionally seen as the twin engines of European integration, plan to hold talks before the EU summit at the end of the month to coordinate their positions on reform of the bloc after Britain’s exit next year.
The EU summit is seen as the last chance before European elections in May 2019 to get a few tangible projects on the road and demonstrate to frustrated voters Europe’s ability to deliver on its promises.
Macron has repeatedly expressed impatience with what he sees as foot-dragging by Merkel, who was tied up with five months of coalition building after an inconclusive general election in September.
“Don’t wait, act now,” he said as he picked up a prize in Aachen last month, urging Germany to overcome its “fetish” for budget and trade surpluses and back reforms even if it meant loosening the purse strings.
Anti-German rhetoric
Crises roiling Europe have focused minds in recent days, with a populist and eurosceptic government taking power in Italy and Spain ousting veteran Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over a corruption scandal and his Socialist arch-rival Pedro Sanchez taking over.
Transatlantic relations have at the same time grown increasingly rocky due to a series of combative decisions by US President Donald Trump, including scrapping the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
On Italy, Merkel sounded a conciliatory note despite the anti-German rhetoric of the governing parties, which have argued that Berlin’s austerity policies have helped bring many indebted countries in southern Europe to their knees.
She said she was “absolutely open to talking to the new Italian government about ways to help young people find work” given high levels of youth unemployment.
However Merkel, whose political power has diminished in her fourth term as her ruling majority has shrunk, insisted she would draw the line at German taxpayers assuming responsibility for other nations’ debt.
“Solidarity between partners should never lead to a union of debt — it must be about helping others to help themselves,” she said.
In the interview, Merkel also threw her weight behind a proposal by Macron to create a European military intervention force outside NATO.
Berlin had long been sceptical of the move due to its stronger transatlantic posture on defence matters and the state of its own military, which it has acknowledged is underfunded and poorly equipped. — AFP

Long-soaring smartphone market heading to earth

San Francisco, United States — After a decade of sizzling growth, the smartphone market has suddenly cooled.
Surveys show smartphone sales last year shrank slightly for the first time since the 2007 debut of the iPhone, and preliminary data this year suggests further deceleration.
Analysts say several factors have hit the smartphone market including the lack of new features that wow consumers, people holding their devices longer and the saturation of key markets including China, which had been driving growth.
“The market has peaked, that is the bottom line,” said Bob O’Donnell, analyst and consultant with Technalysis Research.
“It is for sure not the death of the smartphone; it is the death of the growth of the smartphone market.”
The smartphone market began to hit saturation in 2016 much the way the tablet and personal computer markets did years earlier.
“It doesn’t mean it is not a strong market — it is a huge market — but it means vendors have to think differently,” O’Donnell told AFP.
Smartphone sellers with slices of the market should no longer count on a fast-growing pie and instead rely on shrewd competitive moves to ramp up revenues, according to analysts.
Samsung remains the market leader, according to surveys, but its lead over Apple has slipped.
China’s Huawei is holding the number three spot and rival Chinese maker Xiaomi has been growing rapidly despite the lack of a US presence.
China focal point
International Data Corporation said 2017 smartphone sales fell 0.1 percent to 1.472 billion devices, largely due to weak fourth quarter shipments.
IDC expects another decline in 2018 before a rebound from new phones for 5G networks and India’s vibrant market.
The “biggest driver” of the downturn last year was said by IDC and others to be the China market.
IDC forecast that the smartphone market in China would flatten out next year, while sales in India were expected to continue to boom on low-priced handsets.
“China remains the focal point for many given that it consumes roughly 30 percent of the world’s smartphones,” IDC analyst Ryan Reith said.
A catalyst for a smartphone rebound may be the arrival next year of devices tailored for ultrafast 5G telecommunications networks, according to IDC.
For now, the sector appears sluggish.
Counterpoint Research said the handset market dropped three percent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, a second straight quarterly decline.
“The waning smartphone demand is due to a slowdown in developed markets where replacement cycles are lengthening with overall smartphone features and design reaching its peak,” said Counterpoint analyst Tarun Pathak.
“However, emerging markets still offer a sizeable opportunity.”
Handsets powered by Google-backed Android mobile were expected to continue to dominate the smartphone market, with a share of about 85 percent remaining relatively stable during the coming five years.
“There is no question that Android is the OS (operating system) of choice for the mass market and nothing leads us to believe this will change,” IDC said in its forecast.
Whither Apple?
While smartphone shipments will ebb this year, the average selling price will rise more than 10 percent to $345 and remain on an upward trend, said IDC research manager Anthony Scarsella.
“This year will continue to focus on the ultrahigh-end segment of the market as we expect a surge of premium flagship devices to launch in developed markets,” Scarsella said.
As economies improve in countries around the world, more people can afford to switch to premium models.
Premium smartphones, however, will be under pressure to show they are worth the price paid to upgrade from budget-friendly models, according to analysts.
Apple has weathered the market slump better than its rivals but remains under pressure to impress consumers after introducing its iPhone X priced at $1,000 and up.
“With its exclusive focus on premium smartphones, Apple needs to significantly raise the overall experience of its next-generation iPhones to trigger replacements and lead to solid growth in the near future,” Gartner research director Anshul Gupta said.
Apple could unveil some of its strategy at its developers conference opening Monday in California.
But some analysts warn that Apple is not thinking ahead to how consumers will interact with technology beyond the smartphone.
ABI Research analyst David McQueen said in a December report that Apple is lagging rivals like Google and Amazon in developing new kinds of devices and that Apple will be a “follower” in the “post-smartphone era.”
“This next wave of innovation in the smart device ecosystem will be led by Google and Amazon, as their apparent strength in major growth sectors, notably computer science, allows for a more flexible approach to next-generation user experiences,” said McQueen. — AFP

Qatar says will not ‘fuel a war’ against Iran

Singapore — Qatar will not be dragged into any conflict with Iran, a senior Qatari official said Sunday.
Defense minister Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah told an international security conference in Singapore that even though the two nations had “a lot of differences”, Doha would not “fuel a war” in the region.
“Is it wise to call the US and Israel to go and fight Iran? Iran is next door,” he said.
“If any third party is trying to push the region or some country in the region to start a war with Iran, this will be very dangerous,” he said.
His comments sparked speculation that he could have been referring to Saudi Arabia, which has led a year-long blockade against Qatar, accusing the emirate of financing terrorist groups and having close ties with Tehran.
Qatar rejects the charges and says the blockading countries — which also include the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt — are seeking regime change in Doha.
Responding to a question on whether Qatar’s air bases could be used to launch airstrikes against Iran, al-Attiyah said the country was “not a fan of war”, and called instead for engagement and dialogue.
“We should call Iran, put all the files on the table, and discuss to bring peace, (rather) than war,” he told the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Qatar hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US base in the region which is home to thousands of US personnel and a forward command centre.
The minister also called for the restoration of a 2015 agreement between world powers and Iran that lifted sanctions from Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.
US President Donald Trump last month withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and ordered the reimposition of sanctions suspended under the accord. — AFP

Gene test shows more breast cancer patients can skip chemo

Tampa, United States — The majority of women with a common form of breast cancer may be able to skip chemotherapy after surgery, based on their score on a genetic test, researchers said Sunday.
As many as 65,000 women in the United States alone could be impacted by the study, described as the largest breast cancer trial to date, released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.
Until now, women have faced a great deal of uncertainty about whether to add chemo to hormone therapy after a diagnosis with hormone-receptor positive, HER-2 negative breast cancer when found at an early stage before it has spread to the lymph nodes.
“With results of this ground-breaking study, we now can safely avoid chemotherapy in about 70 percent of patients who are diagnosed with the most common form of breast cancer,” said co-author Kathy Albain, an oncologist at Loyola Medicine.
“For countless women and their doctors, the days of uncertainty are over.”
A 21-gene test called Oncotype Dx that has been around since 2004 has helped guide some decisions, post-surgery.
A high recurrence score, above 25, means chemo is advised to ward off a recurrence while a low score, below 10, means it is not.
The current study involved more than 10,000 women and focused on those whose scores were in the middle range, from 11 to 25.
Patients, aged 18 to 75, were randomly assigned to receive chemotherapy followed by hormonal therapy or hormone therapy alone.
Then, researchers studied the outcomes, including whether or not cancer recurred, and overall survival.
“For the entire study population with gene test scores between 11 and 25 — and especially among women aged 50 to 75 — there was no significant difference between the chemotherapy and no chemotherapy groups,” said the findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The results show that all women over 50 with a recurrence score of 0 to 25 can be spared chemotherapy and its toxic side effects.
For women under 50 with a score of 0 to 15, chemo could be skipped.
However, among younger women with scores 16 to 25, outcomes were slightly better in the chemotherapy group, so in those cases doctors may urge patients to consider a chemo regimen.
The results “should have a huge impact on doctors and patients,” Albain said.
“We are de-escalating toxic therapy.”
According to first author Joseph Sparano of Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York, “any woman with early stage breast cancer 75 or younger should have the test and discuss the results” with her doctor.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide, causing some 1.7 million new cases annually and over half a million deaths.
The study’s primary funding came from the US National Institutes of Health. — AFP

TNT sprints to third win in a row

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE TNT KaTropa further asserted their standing as a title contender in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup after they sprinted to their third win in a row with a 117-106 victory over the NLEX Road Warriors yesterday to move to a share of the top spot in the standings.
Getting a balanced output anew from their rejigged roster, the KaTropa were able to stave off the resilience of NLEX all game long to book their sixth victory in seven matches to join the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at the top of the heap midway into the elimination round of the midseason PBA tournament.
The two fought it tight in the first six minutes of the opening quarter before TNT went on a 23-14 blitz for the remainder of the period to establish a 45-30 advantage after the first 12 minutes of the game.
TNT started the second quarter with a 6-0 run to stretch its lead to 21 points with 8:48 to go on the clock.
But NLEX made sure not to be buried deeper than that as they slowly but surely clawed its way back, with import Arnett Moultrie leading the way.
The Road Warriors were able to reduce their deficit to six points a couple of times, the last one at 60-54 with 49 ticks to go.
TNT though would survive the charge back and stayed ahead, 63-56, at the halftime break.
NLEX continued to put pressure on TNT to start the third frame.
The count stood at 70-all with 7:45 on the clock after which the two teams went back and forth.
Anthony Semerad, Jericho Cruz, Jayson Castro and import Joshua Smith would conspire late to give TNT some breathing space, 89-82, heading into the final quarter.
Sensing that undermanned NLEX was too close for comfort, TNT went down to burly Mr. Smith to start the payoff period.
The KaTropa stretched their lead to 11 points, 93-82, inside the first minute.
NLEX tried to rally back in the next five minutes but TNT kept it at bay.
The score stood at 104-94 with 6:45 left in the game and TNT ahead.
Alex Mallari would drain back-to-back triples for NLEX to make it a four-point game, 108-104, with 3:49 remaining.
But four points were the closest they would get as the KaTropa padded their lead to book the win.
Mr. Smith led TNT with 24 points and 13 rebounds followed by Mr. Semerad with 22 points.
Terrence Romeo finished with 19 points and eight assists.
Mr. Moultrie, meanwhile, paced NLEX with 31 points and 14 boards with Mr. Mallari adding 15 markers.
“We’re happy with the win but credit to NLEX. I know playing without Kiefer [Ravena] is tough but they are adjusting well and other players stepping up,” said winning coach Nash Racela after their win.
“We made some adjustments as our big lead early was erased by NLEX. Good Joshua also stepped up,” he added.
TNT (6-1) next plays on June 13 against the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok while NLEX (2-5) returns on June 9 against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.
Meanwhile, the PBA joined the family, friends and teams of players Jeron Teng and Norbert Torres as well as PBA free agent Thomas Torres for their speedy recovery after absorbing stab wounds in an altercation at the Bonifacio Global City early Sunday morning.
Reports have it that the three players were on their way home when they were confronted by men in a parking lot where the stabbing happened.
The incident is still under investigation, the PBA said.

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