Calvin Oftana stole the thunder from grizzled veterans Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams, scoring a buzzer-beating putback to lift TNT past San Miguel, 105-103, and seize the solo lead in the standings of the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the PhilSports Arena on Sunday, Feb. 19.
With the teams tied 108-all, Oftana collared the board off a Rondae Hollis-Jefferson missed layup before converting the putback 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 which had to lean on veterans in Castro and Williams who once again found the fountain of youth and carried much of the cudgels in the final frame with RR Pogoy out of commission and Mikey Williams failing to finish the game due to an injury.
With the win, the Tropang Giga rose to a solo lead in the standings 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 Williams, although huffing and puffing, proved he has plenty of gas left in the tank and contributed 16 points while also banging bodies with June Mar Fajardo all-game long.
Hollis-Jefferson wasn't as accurate on the offensive end as compared to his first two games, but made up for it by stuffing the stat sheet with 19 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks.
Cameron Clark dropped 30 points and 11 rebounds while CJ Perez added 25 points, seven boards and four dimes. 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.