MANILA — Kim Aurin buried two clutch three-pointers in overtime as TNT Tropang 5G outlasted San Miguel Beer, 93-89, on Saturday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, handing the defending champions a crucial victory while NLEX Road Warriors remained the only unbeaten team in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup.
Aurin took over when it mattered most, sparking TNT’s decisive overtime surge after San Miguel threatened to steal the contest. The sharpshooter scored a conference-high 22 points, highlighted by six triples, and grabbed seven rebounds to earn Player of the Game honors as the Tropang 5G improved to 3-2.
Trailing 83-85 after two free throws by Beermen import George King, Aurin drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to put TNT ahead, 86-85.
King briefly restored San Miguel’s advantage, 87-86, with a layup, but Aurin answered with another clutch corner three to give the Tropang 5G the lead for good at 89-87 before Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson sealed the victory with a layup.
Rey Nambatac backed Aurin with 21 points, while Hollis-Jefferson flirted with a triple-double after tallying 20 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists. John Paul Erram added 12 points for TNT.
King finished with a dominant double-double of 35 points and 16 rebounds for San Miguel, which slipped to 4-2. June Mar Fajardo contributed 14 points, while Marcio Lassiter and Celedonio Trollano chipped in 13 and 12, respectively.
In the night’s other game, NLEX continued its blistering start to the conference by defeating Converge FiberXers, 119-107, to stretch its winning streak and improve to a league-best 5-0 record.
Deschon Winston led the Road Warriors with 24 points, including two three-pointers, while also collecting six rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
Import DeQuan Jones added 28 points and nine rebounds, Robert Bolick Jr. scored 19 points, Anthony Semerad contributed 15, and Kevin Alas finished with 14.
Jamaal Franklin paced Converge, which dropped to 3-3, with 26 points. Mikey Williams added 18, Justin Arana had 16, Juan Gomez de Liaño scored 14, Justine Baltazar contributed 13, and Alec Stockton chipped in 11./PN
