Calvin Oftana and RR Pogoy took turns in leading TNT to a convincing 116-99 victory over Rain or Shine to surge ahead in their best-of-three quarterfinals series in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Friday, May 10.

The Tropang Giga pulled away in the second half as Oftana finished what Pogoy had started, anchoring a huge third quarter rally that set the tone to the romp that moved them on cusp of a semifinals return.

Oftana exploded for 32 points – 18 of which he poured in the third – built on five triples along with nine rebounds while Pogoy, who kept TNT in the tight first two quarters with his 17 points, provided support with 26.

Kelly Williams continued to turn back the hands of time, contributing a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds while Jayson Castro chipped in 11 off the bench.

The Tropang Giga can close out the series on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Experience was very much evident on the part of the Tropang Giga who simply knew when to strike the telling blow after a see-saw affair in the first two and a half quarters.

TNT, behind Oftana, gained some headway, 85-79, after a 32-point third quarter scoring.

The rest of the Tropang Giga followed suit and unloaded a pivotal 28-3 run in the first six minutes of the payoff period to suddenly break the game wide open.

Santi Santillan paced the balanced Elasto Painters with 23 points. Mark Borboran added 13 points while Andrei Caracut and Keith Datu had 11 apiece.

Curiously not on his usual self was Beau Belga who only had five points – a far cry to his 17.5 points average during the eliminations.