ANTIPOLO – TNT had to overcome a sloppy endgame before escaping San Miguel, 96-91, to capture Game 1 of the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup Finals at the Ynares Center here, Wednesday night.
The Tropang 5G got off to a hot start and led by as many as 19, but the Beermen roared back after the break. San Miguel even threatened to knock within just a point twice inside the final seven minutes of the series opener.
Fortunately for Coach Chot Reyes, Calvin Oftana and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser were there to keep their rivals at bay with big hits. Jordan Heading then closed it out with perfect trips to the foul line in the last 15.2 seconds.
It also helped them a great deal that June Mar Fajardo and Don Trollano missed crucial shots, eventually drawing first blood in the best-of-seven affair.
(C) PBA Images
“Well, malaking bagay din that we don’t have one of our stabilizers, si Roger Pogoy, in the endgame,” said Reyes. “I don’t know if the pressure of the Finals, obviously the pressure of San Miguel, really got on our players as well.
“But thankfully, we were able to execute down the stretch,” the champion bench tactician added. “Hopefully, we can be better for Game Two.”
Six players finished in double figures in the win, with Kelly Williams leading the way with 15 points, laced with nine rebounds and three assists.
The former league MVP played a crucial role in helping repel the opposition, making drop passes to Ganuelas-Rosser twice in a row, which led to buckets underneath that pushed their lead to 90-83 with 1:53 remaining.
But the Beermen were tough to crack. Mo Tautua’a and Jericho Cruz forced Rey Nambatac to two turnovers in stops, which allowed the reigning champions to cut the gap to 92-91 with 21.4 seconds to spare.
That, however, proved to be their last push. Heading went perfect from the line to widen the lead to 94-91 with 15.2 seconds left, and the door slowly closed on SMB after Trollano missed his attempt from three-point distance.
Another set of freebies by Heading and another miss by Trollano from outside served as the final touches of the Tropa’s hard-earned triumph.
“Wala ako masabi. Our offense down the stretch was flawless, our defense was great, it was just our turnovers,” said Reyes as they committed 19 of which.
“And those turnovers were not coming from set plays, eh, it was just coming from rushing too much and getting ourselves in bad positions. We’re going to take a long, hard look at it tonight, talk about it in practice tomorrow,” he added.
Oftana contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Heading finished with 13 as well, alongside eight rebounds, despite being under the weather.
Henry Galinato, Jr. made 12 points. Nambatac tallied an 11-5-6 stat line, while Simon Enciso added 10 points as he made the most of a rare starting gig.
(C) PBA Images
Fajardo led San Miguel with 24 points and 17 rebounds in the comeback that fell just short, doing all that despite facing a deep TNT frontcourt.
Tautua’a played solidly once more with 22 points. Perez made 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, while Rodney Brondial chipped in 10 markers.
“It’s very clear that the first quarter was the culprit because we didn’t play the way we did before,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria, as they fell to a 29-20 deficit at the end of the first quarter, which grew to 46-27 in the ensuing period.
“But imagine in the second half, we beat them by 12 points,” he added, as his charges won the second half, 55-43. “The mere fact that we were able to get that kind of production in the second half, the chance was still there.”
Game 2 is set this Friday, January 23, still at the Ynares Center here, with TNT looking to double its lead in the race-to-four championship.
The Scores:
TNT 96 – Williams 15, Heading 13, Oftana 13, Galinato 12, Nambatac 11, Enciso 10, Ganuelas-Rosser 8, Erram 6, Khobuntin 4, Ferrer 2, Aurin 2.
San Miguel 91 – Fajardo 24, Tautuaa 22, Perez 16, Brondial 10, Cruz 8, Tiongson 5, Trollano 4, Ross 2, Lassiter 0, Cahilig 0, Rosales 0, Teng 0.
Quarterscores: 29-20, 53-36, 70-64, 96-91.
