By REYNALD MAGALLON
Calvin Oftana stole the thunder from grizzled veterans Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams, scoring a buzzer-beating putback to lift TNT past San Miguel, 110-108 and seize a solo lead in the standings in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the PhilSports Arena on Sunday, Feb. 19.
With both teams tied 108-all, Oftana collared the rebound off a Rondae Hollis-Jefferson missed layup before delivering the winning basket just before the final buzzer sounded – much to the delight of his teammates who immediately crowded him on the court after the game.
The go-ahead basket saved the day for TNT who had to lean on veterans in Castro and Williams with RR Pogoy out of commission and Mikey Williams failing to finish the game due to an injury.
With the win, the Tropang Giga grabbed the solo lead with an 8-1 slate while SMB dropped to second with a 7-2 record.
“We got a good shot at the basket and the guys crashed the boards and it was coming from Calvin, great effort by Calvin,” TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa said of the final play which summarized the rebounding battle between the two teams with the Tropang Giga winning in the offensive boards, 16-9.
Oftana wound up with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists providing support to both Castro and Williams who combined for 13 of TNT’s 22 fourth quarter points.
Castro defied Father Time anew finishing with 21 points and eight assists while Kelly, although huffing and puffing, contributed 16 points while also banging bodies with June Mar Fajardo all-game long.
Cameron Clark dropped 30 points and 11 rebounds while CJ Perez added 25 points, seven boards and four dimes.
Meantime, June Mar Fajardo had 12 points and team-high 13 rebounds but surprisingly was not fielded in TNT’s final possession as Jorge Gallent opted to field a much smaller Rodney Brondial.
Meantime, Barangay Ginebra returned to its usual winning ways, dominating Blackwater, 119-93, to put its title-retention bid back on track.
Determined to arrest a two-game slide, the Kings fired on all cylinders right off the gates, racing to a 17-point lead at the end of the opening frame – an advantage the defending champions managed to protect the rest of the way to improve to a 4-2 record in the standings.
Christian Standhardinger was at the middle Ginebra onslaught, following up his 29-point outing the last time with 27 points, five assists and four rebounds while Jamie Malonzo also asserted himself more on the offensive end with 25 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the distance to go along with his seven rebounds.
Justin Brownlee added a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds on top of his five assists as Ginebra added to Blackwater woes which now absorbed its sixth-straight defeat
After the Bossing took a brief 7-5 lead early in the first quarter, Ginebra unleashed a blistering 30-8 run that established a 20-point advantage with still 1:03 remaining in the opening frame.
First Game
GINEBRA 119 – Standhardinger 27, Malonzo 25, Brownlee 22, Thompson 11, Gray 8, Tenorio 6, Pringle 6, Pinto 5, Pessumal 5, Mariano 2, R.Aguilar 0, David 0, Onwubere 0.
BLACKWATER 93 – Glover 14, Ular 12, Amer 12, Taha 12, Ilagan 11, McCarthy 9, DiGregorio 9, Escoto 4, Toralba 2, Banal 2 Casio 2, Sena 2, Hill 2.
Quarters: 37-20, 62-44, 96-74, 119-93.
Second Game
TNT 105 – Castro 21, Hollis-Jefferson 19, K.Williams 16, Oftana 14, M.Williams 11, Chua 8, Khobuntin 8, Varilla 4, Montalbo 4.
SAN MIGUEL 103 – Clark 30, Perez 25, Fajardo 12, Cruz 10, Manuel 8, Tautuaa 6, Enciso 5, Lassiter 4, Bualandi 3, Brondial 0, Ross 0, Brondial 0.
Quarters: 24-20, 49-48, 83-77, 105-103.
