MANILA – TNT Tropang 5G kept their Grand Slam hopes alive with an 86-78 victory over San Miguel Beermen in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the Beermen threatening to within 55-59 early in the fourth, the Tropang 5G got a three-point play from Roger Pogoy and back-to-back inside hits from Jordan Heading and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to stretch the lead to 66-55.
Conversions from Heading, Pogoy, and Almond Vosotros widened the Tropang 5G’s lead even further to 79-61. The Beermen made their last push at 71-80, but TNT had their answers from Pogoy to seal the win.
Ganuelas-Rosser led the way with 18 points, five rebounds, five blocks, three steals, and an assist for the Tropang 5G, which trimmed their best-of-seven series deficit to 2-3.
Kelly Williams added 14 markers, including four three-pointers, Heading and Calvin Oftana tallied 13 markers apiece, while Vosotros and Pogoy ended with 11 apiece for TNT.
“Our discussion before the game that this is a very very long season and we are down to our final week, and I told them that we made this the best week, we will just fight as hard as we can and let’s see what happens,” said TNT head coach Chot Reyes.
“I could see in yesterday’s practice and today’s game, the body language and in the eyes of our players is they do not want to give up, and we said that all year that, as long as we show up, we are giving ourselves a chance,” he added.
Ilonggo Jericho Cruz paced the Beermen with 20 points, with 19 coming in the second half, Marcio Lassiter added 15 markers, while June Mar Fajardo had a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Beermen will once again have a chance to finish off the Tropang 5G in Game 6 on Friday night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City./PN
BOX SCORE:
TNT 86 – Ganuelas-Rosser 18, Williams 14, Oftana 13, Heading 13, Pogoy 11, Vosotros 11, Aurin 4, Khobuntin 2, Heruela 0.
SAN MIGUEL 78 – Cruz 20, Lassiter 15, Fajardo 13, Tautuaa 9, Trollano 8, Ross 6, Perez 5, Rosales 2, Brondial 0, Teng 0, Tiongson 0.
Quarterscores: 27-20, 41-31, 59-53, 86-78.
