Roger Pogoy and Poy Erram showed the way as TNT foiled Rain or Shine, 98-91, to seize Game 1 of their PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup semifinal battle, Wednesday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The star guard finished with a game-high 28 points, while the seasoned big man notched 16 points and 10 rebounds. Together, the two bannered the Tropang 5G’s second-half surge on the way to drawing first blood in the race-to-4 affair.
Erram presided over their critical third-quarter attack, scoring six in a 10-0 run — including a beautiful reverse that even he could only smile afterwards — toward a 63-56 lead with 1:27 left in the period to take control the rest of the way.
Pogoy then came through in the fourth, joining hands with his former Gilas teammate for an 11-2 retaliation. To cap things off, Erram knocked down a trifecta off a swing by Pogoy to push their lead to 86-76 with 3:07 left.
“I thought we got a big lift defensively from Poy anchoring our defense. And when that happened, it allowed us to get opportunities to score,” offered head coach Chot Reyes after his wards struggled to get going in the first half.
(C) PBA Images
But while defense proved key, especially in seizing control, their offensive firepower was on display as well.
Four players finished in double figures. Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser produced 13 points and 10 rebounds. Calvin Oftana and Simon Enciso made 12 points each, with the sweet-shooting winger adding 10 rebounds to his tally to make it three players with double-doubles.
Jordan Heading, even while under minutes restriction, added 11 points alongside three rebounds and an assist without a single turnover,
Rebounding was also the focal point of TNT. The team went on to win in that statistical department by a wide margin, 59-44, as they knew it was Rain or Shine’s strength — especially Jhonard Clarito, from their quarters duel versus NLEX.
Clarito himself only hauled down seven boards with 14 points but still managed to threaten the Tropa late in the game, when his layup off his own steal chopped what was once a 91-80 lead to just four, 95-91, with 15.2 ticks left.
But there was just no denying the Grand Slam seekers. They capitalized on the ejection of Coach Yeng Guiao shortly after Clarito’s basket, with Oftana calmly making the technical free throw to push the lead to five again.
(C) PBA Images
Andrei Caracut tried to will themselves back, but his four-pointer missed, and they could not even secure another possession as Rosser stole the ball from Caelan Tiongson and broke away for a two-handed slam to seal the deal.
“I thought our defense held,” said Reyes. “We know that Rain or Shine is the second highest scoring team in the league with 108, 110 points a game. So we really wanted to keep them to, if possible, below 90.”
Caracut led Rain or Shine with 16 points in the loss. Adrian Nocum made 13 points while Tiongson and Gabe Norwood added 12 each.
Game 2 is set on Friday, June 27, 7:30 PM at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Scores:
TNT 98 – Pogoy 28, Erram 16, Ganuelas-Rosser 13, Enciso 12, Oftana 12, Heading 11, Khobuntin 6, Williams 0, Galinato 0, Aurin 0, Vosotros 0
Rain or Shine 91 – Caracut 16, Clarito 14, Nocum 13, Norwood 12, Tiongson 12, Mamuyac 6, Malonzo 6, Santillan 5, Porter 4, Datu 3, Asistio 0.
Quarterscores: 23-23, 41-41, 63-58, 98-91.
