Bonus secured

Ranged against a hungry Magnolia team that was fired up by the presence of its head coach on the floor, TNT did what it does best — stay composed.

TNT Tropang 5G refused to get rattled by the presence of LA Tenorio and the surging Hotshots en route to posting a 94-83 victory in the Philippine Basketball Association Season 50 Philippine Cup on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Jordan Heading provided the fireworks while Calvin Oftana chipped in significant numbers for the Tropang 5G, who hung tough down the crucial stretch before clinching the victory that gave them a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals with eight wins in 11 matches.

The Tropang 5G will join San Miguel Beer, Rain or Shine and Converge in the upper hand with Last Eight bonus while pushing Magnolia, Barangay Ginebra, Meralco and NLEX into the bottom half as the elimination round of the season-opening conference enter its final stretch.

The final standing will be determined after the Ginebra-Titan Ultra match that is being played at press time.

Heading waxed hot, firing 23 points on a sizzling 8-of-11 field goal shooting topped with six rebounds while Oftana added 17 points and nine rebiounds for the Tropang 5G, who marched to warzone ready to face a Magnolia squad that was looking for a twice-to-beat bonus.

“We knew that it’s going to be a struggle so it’s nice that we managed to hang tough to pull off the win,” said TNT head coach Chot Reyes, who didn’t give Poy Erram a single minute despite the importance of the game as he was still recovering from a grueling campaign in the men’s basketball event of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

“We had no delusion that it’s going to be a walk in the park for us. That’s why when they did come back, we were ready. Our defense and composure were there.”

But more than clinching the quarterfinal bonus that puts them in a solid position to win the Philippine Cup crown — the only title that shattered their grand slam ambition last year — the victory also saw the Tropang 5G frustrating what could have been a triumphant debut of Tenorio as playing coach.

An eight-time PBA champion who walked away from Ginebra to replace Chito Victolero as head coach of Magnolia in the off-season, Tenorio fielded himself, formally making him the seventh coach to play in an official game.

With that, he joins the likes of Norman Black, Robert Jaworski, Bobby Parks, Mon Fernandez, Allan Caidic and Manny Pacquiao in the list of coaches who saw action in the league.

Black was the first to serve the dual role when he played for San Miguel Beer in the First and Third Conferences of 1988 while Parks, Fernandez and Jaworski eventually followed suit.

Caidic called the shots for Ginebra in the tailend of his legendary career in 1999 while Pacquiao served as playing coach of expansion team Kia Sorento from 2014 to 2016 before quitting the following year.

Tenorio started the game and saw action for 13 minutes, finishing with four points, two rebounds and three assists for the Hotshots, who need to win twice in the quarterfinals before advancing to the semifinals.

“Well, it was a great sense of pride on my end to see a former player being able to do so well. We knew that there’s a big possibility that LA was going to suit up so, when it did happen, when we found out yesterday, we were not at all surprised,” said Reyes, who coached Tenorio when Gilas Pilipinas made a historic appearance in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014 in Spain.

“I knew that he was going to start to give them a big boost of energy at the beginning and the last instruction to my players was, don’t let that affect our energy. We knew that they were going to come out super pumped because they had their coach alongside them.”

With the possibility of facing Magnolia again in the playoffs since last season’s Philippine Cup, Reyes stressed they are more concerned by how they will be able to utilize their playoff bonus to enter the next round.

“We don’t think about that anymore. It’s been a long time since the last conference. For us now, it’s just this next game,” Reyes said.

Zavier Lucero fired 17 points and nine rebounds while Mark Barroca added 16 for the Hotshots.

The scores:

TNT (94) — Heading 23, Oftana 17, Nambatac 11, Williams 11, Pogoy 10, Ganuelas-Rosser 9, Jalalon 7, Galinato 4, Khobuntin 2, Ferrer 0, Aurin 0.

MAGNOLIA (83) — Lucero 17, Barroca 16, Sangalang 12, Andrada 12, Gomez de Liano 9, Dela Rosa 6, Alfaro 5, Tenorio 4, Koon 2, Verano 0, Laput 0, Escoto 0.

QUARTERS: 27-20, 47-38, 74-62, 94-83.