By REYNALD MAGALLON
TNT got its veterans to step up while Magnolia leaned on the gutsy plays from one of its young guns as they forced a do-or-die Game 2 in their respective quarterfinals affair in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Wednesday, May 13.
The Tropang 5G finally got its long-awaited scoring from its locals as veterans Calvin Oftana, RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro stepped up and helped Bol Bol in turning back NLEX, 96-93 to live to fight another day.
The Hotshots, on the other hand, had clutch plays from Jerom Lastimosa down the stretch to escape Meralco, 95-89 to also drag their own series to a sudden-death
With the Tropang 5G long searching for another scoring option behind Bol, the veterans made sure to step up this time and scored in double-figures as the team survived a second half fightback from the Road Warriors.
Pogoy fired 12 of his 15 points in the third frame while Oftana fired 19 points. Castro also had timely hits in the final frame to finish with 13 points.
“This is the first time in the whole conference that we had those three other guys in double figures. Hindi magsabay-sabay na maganda laro ni Calvin, RR and Jayson eh, our three mainstays,” said TNT head coach Chot Reyes.
Bol was in his usual dominant form with 34 points and 14 rebounds to go with three blocks. The 7-foot-3 center also had three crucial free throws late and a huge defensive stand when he put up a hand enough to bother Cady Lalanne on his potential game-tying three at the buzzer.
Meanwhile, Lastimosa scored a crucial layup and then an equally important rebound off his own missed free throws to seal the win against Meralco.
Tied 86-all, Clint Chapman drained a huge triple to put the Hotshots back on the lead before Lastimosa took care of a tough layup over CJ Cansino to put Magnolia up, 91-86.
Lastimosa put up 17 points – including the last two free throws which he got after the crucial offensive rebound.
Chapman finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Ian Sangalang added 10.
