Calvin Oftana took over in the clutch as TNT rallied from behind and upended the erstwhile surging Meralco, 92-90, to snap out of a two-game funk in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup, Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The star forward finished with 26 points, including seven in the decisive 8-0 run that gave the Tropang Giga the lead for good, 92-87, with 45.6 seconds left after facing an 84-87 deficit entering the game’s final three minutes.
A block by Roger Pogoy on Aaron Black’s potential game-tying layup with 7.2 seconds left and Jolo Mendoza’s missed trey on the other end as time expired sealed the deal and enabled TNT to even their record to 3-3.
Head coach Chot Reyes lauded the way his wards responded after suffering tough losses at the hands of San Miguel (91-89) and NorthPort (112-96).
“The last game was really, I thought, bad preparation on my end. We had a very short post-game in the dugout. I just said that was mine. I thought the matchups were all wrong, the preparation was all wrong and NorthPort took advantage,” he said.
“Today I just asked the players how much they want it. If they would be willing to put in the effort and beat a great defensive team and a very physical team like Meralco. Apparently, the players responded,” he offered.
Oftana himself led by example in heeding that call. He shot 9-of-16 from the floor, including a 6-of-8 clip from deep, and also had nine rebounds.
Veteran floor general Jayson Castro was as important, as he came through with 15 points and six rebounds in his first start of the conference.
Kelly Williams, 42, had 11 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double since a 20-10 outing in their 115-99 loss to San Miguel in the 2022 Philippine Cup eliminations, per league stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
Roger Pogoy and Henry Galinato also had 11 apiece for TNT, who will face NLEX on April 13, Saturday, 6:15 p.m. in Candon, Ilocos Sur.
Aaron Black and Cliff Hodge, on the other hand, had 16 points apiece to lead Meralco, whose two-game winning streak got halted.
Allein Maliksi had 11 points but exited prematurely as he got fouled out with 1:23 left. Chris Banchero chipped in 10 markers in the loss.
The Bolts (3-4) will head into a lengthy break before playing Converge on April 21, Sunday, 3 p.m. at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Scores:
TNT 92 – Oftana 26, Castro 15, Pogoy 11, K.Williams 11, Galinato 11, Khobuntin 8, Montalbo 5, Aurin 3, M.Ganuelas-Rosser 2, B.Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Varilla 0, Reyes 0, Heruela 0, Ponferrada 0.
Meralco 90 – Black 16, Hodge 16, Maliksi 11, Banchero 10, Quinto 9, Newsome 8, Almazan 8, Pascual 5, Mendoza 2, Jose 2, Torres 2, Pasaol 1, Rios 0.
Quarterscores: 21-25, 49-40, 73-68, 92-90.
