via Dason Stephan, Pressroom PH
Fueled by a clutch production from Roger Pogoy, the Grand Slam-seeking TNT Tropang 5G lived to see another day at the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup after outlasting the twice-to-beat Magnolia Hotshots in a thrilling 89-88 battle at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig on Wednesday, June 18.
After being scoreless in the first half, Pogoy suddenly turned on pure offense mode in the third and fourth quarters, scoring 22 of his 30 points through back-to-back baskets to keep the Tropang 5G on track to becoming the fifth franchise in PBA history to win all three conferences in one season.
“Yong mindset lang coming into this game, ayaw kong magpatalo, ayaw ko pang magbaksyon,” said the forward, who capped off his 30 points with two more rebounds and a steal, further nailing the sixth-seed TNT’s win over the three-seed Magnolia.
To mirror the 33-year-old’s performance, Calvin Oftana also filled the stat sheet despite an injury with 21 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Kelly Williams and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser also provided much-needed scoring for TNT, as they finished with 12 and 10, respectively.
Both sides contended to grab the lead all throughout the match, but Magnolia managed to keep their foes at bay by putting up an offensive onslaught led by veteran Paul Lee’s hot hands, closing off the first half in their favor at 44-37. TNT then fought back from the deficit through constant plays from “RR” in the third, highlighted by a coast-to-coast drive with less than 10 seconds to go that cut their foes’ lead to just four points going into the fourth.
Sparked by the small forward’s fight-back, the Grand Slam-hungry squad continued on with their revival, as injured Oftana extended his squad’s late-game cushion to 88-81.
However, the Hotshots proved that they wouldn’t crumble that easily after they tied things back up, courtesy of a Rome Dela Rosa trey and a four-pointer from Lee.
TNT’s Williams then split his charity shots with six ticks to go in the game, but while this gave Magnolia a chance to regain the lead, Tropang 5G went on lockdown on defense, denying any chance of a Hotshots’ victory.
Lee led Magnolia in scoring with 15, while Zav Lucero and William Navaro trailed close behind with 14 apiece. Both teams now face do-or-die, as they will lock horns for a semis seat on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila.
