Roger Pogoy came up big down the stretch to tow an all-Filipino TNT past Meralco, 77-75, and take the 2-1 lead in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Sunday evening.
The Tropang 5G went to their star winger for the lead and he delivered, coming through with the game’s most important triple with 7.4 seconds left to negate Chris Newsome’s trey on the other end that gave the Bolts a 75-74 lead.
Pogoy’s shot, furthermore, saved the efforts of Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Kelly Williams, who put together the 8-0 run to erase a 72-66 deficit and give themselves the brief 74-72 lead, setting up the tight finish.
Misses by CJ Cansino and Jason Brickman from point-blank ultimately enabled the defending champions to pull off the narrow victory and a solid show of resilience as they played their first game without the injured Bol Bol.
