TNT staves off SMB, snatches Finals Game 1

TNT held off defending champion San Miguel Beer, 96-91, to take Game 1 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup finals on Wednesday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.

Ageless veteran Kelly Williams’ steady presence in the front court and crucial plays in the final stretch allowed the Tropang 5G to weather the Beermen’s second-half rally and draw first blood in the best-of-seven series.

Williams finished with a near double-double of 15 points and nine rebounds with three assists and one block while playing huge role in bodying up against San Miguel center June Mar Fajardo in 30 minutes of action.

Calvin Oftana had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jordan Heading scored 13 and pulled down eight boards while Henry Galinato and Rey Nambatac had 12 and 11 points, respectively, for TNT, which played sans injured RR Pogoy (hamstring) for the second straight time.

The Tropang 5G, who took the win despite committing 19 turnovers with two coming late in the fourth period, will try to double its series lead on Friday at the same Antipolo venue.

“I mean, it’s just one game and that’s what we’re gonna do for the rest of the series, take it one game at a time. We’re gonna fix our mistakes going into Friday,” Williams said.

“Obviously, we can’t be content at all against San Miguel. We know they’re gonna come back strong and they’re gonna make adjustments. We just have to make sure we come up with the same energy, the same togetherness and I think we’ll gonna be fine.”     

TNT, which started strong in the first half and led by as many as 19 points in the second period, had a serious scare with less than a minute left.

Back-to-back assists by Williams to Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser kept TNT in front, 92-87, with 50.2 seconds left.

San Miguel got a break after Oftana lost the handle for a Jericho Cruz breakaway layup before following it up with another basket off a steal when the Beermen forced Rey Nambatac to an errant pass after receiving the inbound to close in, 92-91, with 21.4 ticks left.

Heading was taken to the line and made his two charities in the last 15.2 seconds.

TNT dodged the bullet when Don Trollano, who earlier made a four-pointer to spark San Miguel’s desperate run, missed a potential game-tying triple.

Heading iced it with two more foul shots.

Fajardo finished with 24 points and 17 rebounds to lead San Miguel, which trailed 27-46 in the second period.

Mo Tautuaa had 20 markers while CJ Perez had 16 markers, seven boards and six assists for the Beermen, who also lost the opening game to TNT in their previous all-Filipino title showdown last year.