Calvin Oftana completed a putback at the buzzer and powered the TNT Tropang Giga to a pulsating 105-103 win over the San Miguel Beermen on Sunday night in the 47th PBA Governors’ Cup at the PhilSports Arena.
Oftana’s heroics allowed the Tropa to wrest the solo number one spot in the team standings, improving to 8-1 (win-loss) after padding their winning streak to six.
The sorry loss ended the Beermen’s two-game win streak as they dropped to 7-2.
San Miguel tied the contest at 103-all after Cameron Clark converted a three-point play with 13 seconds left.
Coming off a timeout, the Tropa went to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson but the former NBA player misfired from the paint.
Luckily for TNT, Oftana was there to save the day as he beat CJ Perez and Rodney Brondial for the offensive rebound and made the game-winning shot just before the final buzzer sounded.
The Tropa pulled off the gritty win despite the absence of injured RR Pogoy and the early exit of Mikey Williams, who left in the second quarter after spraining his ankle. He already had 11 points when he prematurely left the match.
Jayson Castro top scored for the Tropa with 21 points, while Hollis-Jefferson added 19 points.
Kelly Williams also gave the Tropa a huge lift, as he scored 16 points while standing his ground against San Miguel’s top big man June Mar Fajardo.
Oftana chipped in 14 markers.
Clark paced the Beermen with 30 points, while Perez tallied 25 markers.
Fajardo scored just 12 points and his towering presence was missed in the game’s final play after he was subbed out in favor of Brondial.
Image courtesy of PBA Media Bureau
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