ANTIPOLO – TNT finally got the huge break it needed in the PBA Philippine Cup.
And it took a former San Miguel Beerman to give the Tropang 5G their first win the season-ending conference.
Simon Enciso drained a corner three to help the Tropang 5G secure an 89-84 win against the Beermen on Sunday night at the Ynares Center that revived their quest for a grand slam.
READ High five for Magnolia after 33-point romp over sorry Terrafirma
Roger Pogoy followed that Enciso 3 with a trey of his own with 13 seconds left to play as the Tropang 5G finally stopped the bleeding after losing their first three games in the season's final conference.
Calvin Oftana also had a huge game for TNT with 23 points and 21 rebounds.
"Obviously, there's relief that we finally got the W," said coach Chot Reyes afterwards. "It was a matter of us taking a closer look at ourselves and just had some real brutal reflections.
"Before the game, I told the players maybe we have it all wrong. Maybe we were trying to find the old TNT game. We were talking about, 'Why we can do this, why we can't do that,? in our first three games.
"Until we realized we can't go back to the old TNT game because this a vastly different team. Without Jayson (Castro) and without Rondae (Hollis Jefferson), this is a very different team."
Rey Nambatac finished with 15 points for TNT, but continue to struggle with his shooting (3-of-10). Pogoy added 14 and grabbed six rebounds,
Enciso added 13 and four assists, while veteran Kelly Williams turned back the hands of time to score 12 and had six rebounds.
CJ Perez scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half for San Miguel, which rallied from an 11-point deficit and closed in at 83-80 on a Perez layup before Enciso hit that dagger three.
June Mar Fajardo added 21 and 14 boards, and Juami Tiongson rallied the Beermen in the fourth quarter by hitting nine of his 15 points during that stretch.
The Beermen fell to a 3-2 record and failed to follow up their huge 104-93 win over Barangay Ginebra in their previous outing.
The scores
TNT (89) - Oftana 23, Nambatac 15, Pogoy 14, Enciso 13, Williams 12, Khobuntin 8, Erram 4, Heruela 0, Razon 0, Aurin 0.
San Miguel (84) - Perez 26, Fajardo 21, Tiongson 15, Lassiter 14, Cruz 6, Brondial 2, Ross 0, Tautuaa 0, Cahilig 0, Trollano 0, Teng 0, Rosales 0.
Quarterscores: 26-26; 44-39; 71-62; 89-84.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
