TNT outlasts Magnolia, forces sudden-death in PBA PH Cup

Sports

THE TNT Tropang 5G battled back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit then held off a last-ditch effort by the Magnolia Hotshots to hack out a pulsating 89-88 win in their quarterfinal duel of the 49th PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday night

With the win, the the sixth-seeded Tropa kept their Grand Slam dream alive, frustrating the third-ranked Hotshots in a battle of spurts to force a do-or-die duel.

As the higher seed, the Hotshots are twice-to-beat in the series and for a while, it looked like they wouldn’t need to capitalize on the win-once bonus when they built a double-digit cushion in the third canto.

TNT, however, staged a searing run in the fourth that saw Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Kelly Williams hit back-to-back triples that gave the Tropa an 88-81 lead inside the final two minutes.

Magnolia made one last push. Rome Dela Rosa knocked down a three-pointer then Paul Lee sank a booming four-point shot that knotted the score at 88-all with 37 seconds left.

With the outcome of the game hanging in the balance, Williams came up with the match’s biggest play when he collared an offensive rebound and was fouled while attempting a putback with 6.8 seconds left.

Williams made just one of his free throws but the solitary basket was enough to give the Tropa the win as the Hoshots failed to take a decent shot when rookie Zavi Lucero fumbled the ball in the game’s final possession.

RR Pogoy scattered a game-high 30 points to lead the Tropa while Calvin Oftana (21 points), Kelly Williams (12), Jordan Heading (10), and Ganuelas-Rosser (10) scored in double figures to help the Tropa’s cause.

Lee led Magnolia with 15 points while William Navarro and Lucero each had 14 markers.

THE SCORES:

TNT (89 )- Pogoy 30, Oftana 21, Williams 12, Heading 10, Rosser 10, Erram 4, Galinato 2, Khobuntin 0, Heruela 0, Aurin 0, Enciso 0, Varilla 0.

MAGNOLIA (88) - Lee 15, Navarro 14, Lucero 14, Lastimosa 12, Sangalang 10, Dela Rosa 10, Barroca 6, Dionisio 4, Laput 2, Reavis 1, Alfaro 0.QUARTERSCORES: 18-22, 37-44, 61-65, 89-88.(CCM)