TNT went on a scoring spree early in the fourth quarter to score a 116-99 win over Rain or Shine and take the headstart in their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals series on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Tropang Giga outscored the Elasto Painters, 23-8, in the first six minutes of the final period to pull away from what until then was a tight ballgame and seal the win.
Veteran Kelly Williams punctuated the run with a three pointer as TNT took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
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Calvin Oftana finished with a game-high 32 points and Roger Pogoy added 26 for TNT, which will try to close the series out on Sunday.
TNT coach Chot Reyes said limiting Rain or Shine veteran Beau Belga and holding down the league’s No. 1 scoring team below 100 points were the keys to the win.
“They key we felt was to control Beau, because I think Beau is the heart and soul of this team. And I think we were able to achieve that. And number two, we were able to defend a lot better than we did the first time we played them. And this is the top scoring team in the league,” Reyes pointed out.
“So our entire focus during practice was really to defend, force them into tough shots, and hopefully they would missed.”
Williams had another splendid showing for TNT with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, while going 5-for-9 from three-point range - the same output of Oftana from distance.
The 23 points of Santi Santillan led Rain or Shine, which only got five points from the 37-year-old Belga, way below his average of 17.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists this conference.
The Elasto Painters were still within striking distance at the end of the third, 85-79, before Pogoy hit seven straight points to spark that game-turning run of the Tropang Giga in the final quarter.
The scores:
TNT (116) - Oftana 32, Pogoy 26, K.Williams 19, Castro 11, Khobuntin 8, B.Ganuelas-Rosser 8, Aurin 4, Montalbo 3, Ponferrada 3, Heruela 2, Varilla 0, Galinato 0.
Rain or Shine (99) - Santillan 23, Borboran 13, Datu 11, Caracut 11, Clarito 10, Ildefonso 8, Nocum 7, Demusis 6, Belga 5, Mamuyac 4, Asistio 1, Norwood 0.
Quarterscores: 26-24; 53-52; 85-79; 116-99.
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