OFTANA HEROICS LIFT TNT OVER SMB
Games Wednesday (PhilSports Arena) 3 p.m. – NorthPort vs Terrafirma / 5:45 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs Magnolia
TNT lost another key player to injury but not its winning ways. Rising to the challenge after Mikey Williams joined RR Pogoy in sickbay halfway through the game, the Tropang Giga eked out a 105-103 thriller over San Miguel Beer in a heavyweight PBA Governors’ Cup duel at the PhilSports Arena.
Calvin Oftana delivered the winning cleanup off Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s miss at the buzzer to reward TNT for its 48 minutes of hard labor amid tremendous odds and against a highpowered opponent.
The Tropang Giga extended their streak to six games and grabbed the solo lead at 8-1 overall with Williams reduced to spectator along with Pogoy, who didn’t play at all due to an ankle sprain from last game.
Williams hurt his ankle while going for a drive against SMB’s Marcio Lassiter in the second period and spent the rest of the match on the bench.
“These guys are built for this,” said TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa, whose troops dealt SMB its second loss in nine games before they both take a break for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and the East Asia Super League Champions Week.
“We knew it was going to be ‘playoffs atmosphere’ here against San Miguel. I didn’t actually expect much from the guys; I just told them to embrace the grind and embrace the struggle. But they responded well,” he added.
Jayson Castro showed the way for the victors with 21, including nine in the fourth, while Jefferson finished with 19, Kelly Williams produced 16 and Oftana had 14-10.
Clark (30) and CJ Perez (25) paced SMB, which saw its two-game roll snapped.
Earlier, all business in the windup of its killer schedule, defending champion Barangay Ginebra crushed Blackwater, 119-93.
The Gin Kings stormed to an early 20-point tear to set the tone for the mighty bounceback to numbing losses to Magnolia (118-88) and San Miguel Beer (102-99) that derailed their smooth 3-0 start.
In wrapping up their tight six-game slate over 14 days with a W, coach Tim Cone’s weary charges cemented their hold of fifth spot at 4-2.
The scores
First game
GINEBRA 119 – Standhardinger 27, Malonzo 25, Brownlee 22, Thompson 11, Gray 8, Tenorio 8, Pringle 6, Pinto 5, Pessumal 5, Mariano 2, R.Aguilar 0, David 0, Onwubere 0. BLACKWATER 93 – Glover 14, Ular 12, Amer 12, Taha 12, Ilagan 11, McCarthy 9, Digregorio 9, Escoto 4, Torralba 2, Banal 2 Casio 2, Sena 2, Hill 2.
Quarterscores: 37-20, 62-44, 96-74,119-93
Second Game
TNT 105 – Castro 21, Hollis-Jefferson 19, K.Williams 16, Oftana 14, M.Williams 11, Chua 8, Khobuntin 8, Varilla 4, Montalbo 4.
SAN MIGUEL 103 – Clark 30, Perez 25, Fajardo 12, Cruz 10, Manuel 8,
Tautuaa 6, Enciso 5, Lassiter 4, Bulanadi 3, Brondial 0, Ross 0, Brondial 0.