Tropang 5G overcome Hotshots to enter semis

MANILA, Philippines — The Grand Slam dream of the TNT Tropang 5G is still alive and kicking.

TNT punched its ticket to the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals after outlasting the Magnolia Hotshots, 80-79, in their do-or-die matchup Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

The Tropang 5G overcame a twice-to-win disadvantage and eliminated the Hotshots, as they recovered just in time to quell a comeback attempt by Magnolia.

RR Pogoy and Calvin Oftana paced TNT with 18 points apiece. The former tallied seven rebounds, five assists and a steal, while the latter posted seven boards, four dimes and three steals.

After trailing by as much as 14 points in the game, Magnolia slowly pieced away the deficit and sliced it to just three, 67-70, after a Mark Barroca jumper.

Back-to-back layups by Poy Erram and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser pushed the lead to seven, 74-67, with 6:23 remaining.

But it would be TNT’s only points in the next minutes, before an 8-0 run capped by a pair of free throws by Rome dela Rosa to grab a 75-74 lead with 1:49 remaining.

A layup by Pogoy then pushed the Tropang 5G ahead, which triggered a nip-and-tuck affair down the stretch.

A layup by Ian Sangalang with 5.8 seconds remaining gave Magnolia a slim 79-78 lead.

On the other end, Jordan Heading received the inbound play and hoisted up a 4-pointer. Kelly Williams, however, was there to clean up the play and he was fouled.

The veteran sank both pressure-packed charities calmly, and gave TNT the lead for good, 80-79, with 2.7 seconds to go.

In the next possession, dela Rosa inbounded the pass to Sangalang, but it was stolen by Oftana, sealing the Tropang 5G’s victory.

“Believe it or not, I kinda expected it because we were just running on fumes. We have a very short rotation,” TNT head coach Chot Reyes said, as he underscored the most recent injury to Brian Heruela and Heading, whom he revealed did not practice the past few days and was a game-time decision.

“I was just telling the players at every level to just hold on. Don't worry about their missed shots, don't worry about their offense. Just defend as well as we can, as much as we can because I knew we didn't have the legs anymore towards the endgame,” he added.

“We're lucky Kelly made those two free throws. If it went to overtime, I don't know if we could have lasted an extra five minutes. Because like I said, kulang na kulang sa tao. But I think the spirit of the players, their unwillingness to give up, I think was the key here.”

Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser chipped in 12 markers and five boards for TNT, while Williams had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in almost 34 minutes.

Zav Lucero carried the load for the Hotshots with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sangalang backstopped with 14 points, while Jerom Lastimosa and Aris Dionisio had 13 and 12, respectively.

The Tropang Giga will now take on either the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters or the NLEX Road Warriors.