TNT turned to the old reliable tandem of Kelly Williams and Jayson Castro to deliver a strong finishing kick in putting away Meralco, 108-99, and securing a playoffs spot in Group A of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The veteran tandem sparked the closing 8-2 run to complete the Tropang Giga’s elimination round sweep of the Bolts for their fourth straight win and a solo hold of the lead with a 6-1 win-loss record.
Meralco threatened to turn the table around when it trimmed TNT’s 11-point lead early in the fourth to just three, 100-97, after Chris Newsome sank a couple of foul shots with 2:51 left.
The 42-year-old Williams answered with a strong drive over Meralco big man Brandon Bates, who is almost two decades his junior, followed by 38-year-old Castro’s layup off a steal as he outsprinted his much younger defenders.
Calvin Oftana, who was lights out from the three-point area, added an easy basket to give the Tropang Giga a comfortable, 106-97, cushion with 50.5 seconds remaining.
“When they cut it down to three points, we called a timeout. It was a very calm huddle. We knew they were going to come back. We had no illusions it’s going to be easy by any means so we just reminded everyone in the timeout, ‘okay they’re making their run now let’s focus and make sure we’ll be able to do what’s needed to get done,” TNT coach Chot Reyes said of their breakaway.
Oftana finished with 25 points highlighted by an efficient 6-of-7 three-point clip, pulled down seven rebounds and had three assists for TNT, which rained down 11 triples compared to Meralco’s horrible 4-of-14 shooting from the three-point area.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 22 points, dished out nine assists and had seven boards, Kim Aurin got 16 markers, Castro chipped in 12 while Poy Erram had 11.
Williams had nine points and played his role well as secondary defender to Bolts import Allen Durham.
“In the end, the players took it upon themselves to make the necessary stops. We got great contributions defensively from Kelly Williams off the bench. I thought he was big.”
Meralco’s fourth quarter resurgence saw it cut down TNT’s 92-81 lead to just three after Chris Banchero split his charities followed by a quadruple by Bong Quinto before Newsome capped the 9-0 rally with a trey for a 92-89 count.
Hollis-Jefferson and Oftana kept TNT in front before breaking out.