PBA: Calvin Oftana regains form as TNT escapes streaking Meralco

Calvin Oftana rediscovered his form as TNT barely escaped sister team Meralco, 92-90, to return to the winning column of the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Oftana erupted for six triples to finish with 26 points off the bench on top of nine rebounds, three blocks, and one assist to make up for a tough offensive outing during their 112-96 loss to NorthPort last Friday, where he was limited to just 13 markers. 

With Oftana showing the way, the Tropang Giga arrested their two-game slump to improve to 3-3 while the Bolts fell to a 3-4 hole. 

Down two points down the stretch, Oftana steadily sank two free throws after drawing a foul from Cliff Hodge then buried a huge triple to give TNT an 89-87 lead with 2:07 left. 

Jayson Castro split his charities followed by an Oftana layup that made it a 92-87 cushion for the Chot Reyes-led squad. Meralco, though, staged a last-gasp comeback behind a three-point play from Bong Quinto to trim the deficit to two in the final 36 seconds. 

Castro missed out on a potential dagger, but Aarom Black also fired blank on his final layup attempt as TNT cruised to the win. 

Castro finished with 15 points while veteran big man Kelly Williams dropped a double-double outing of 11 markers and 13 rebounds to help TNT bounce back from two consecutive losses to the Batang Pier and San Miguel. 

Black and Hodge both tallied 16 points in the loss while Allein Maliksi was held to just 11 markers. 

Scores:

TNT 92 – Oftana 26, Castro 15, Pogoy 11, K.Williams 11, Galinato 11, Khobuntin 8, Montalbo 5, Aurin 3, M.Ganuelas-Rosser 2, B.Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Varilla 0, Reyes 0, Heruela 0, Ponferrada 0.

Meralco 90 – Black 16, Hodge 16, Maliksi 11, Banchero 10, Quinto 9, Newsome 8, Almazan 8, Pascual 5, Mendoza 2, Jose 2, Torres 2, Pasaol 1, Rios 0.

Quarters: 21-25, 49-40, 73-68, 92-90.

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News