THERE were no easy tickets to the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals Wednesday night, June 18, 2025, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Rain or Shine (ROS) denied second seed NLEX an early passage, and later TNT did the same to third seed Magnolia, escaping with a nail-biting 89-88 win that kept the Tropang 5G’s grand slam bid alive.
RR Pogoy erupted for 30 points and sparked TNT’s crucial fourth-quarter run, but the Tropang Giga still had to weather a fierce Magnolia fightback before clinching the narrow victory that sent their quarterfinal series to a knockout match on Sunday.
“Mindset ko lang eh ayaw ko magpatalo, ayaw ko mag-bakasyon (My mindset is I don’t want to lose, I don’t want to take a break),” said Pogoy, whose clutch performance extended TNT’s postseason life.
After Sunday’s rubber match, either TNT will stay on track for a grand slam or the Hotshots will keep chasing their first all-Filipino title since 2014.
Calvin Oftana backed up Pogoy with 21 points, while Kelly Williams (12 points), Jordan Heading (10) and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser (10) also played key roles for TNT.
It’s a duel of runs that saw Magnolia surging to a 13-point lead in the third, only for TNT to seize an 88-81 lead late in the fourth. But the Hotshots responded with a quick seven-point salvo -- Rome dela Rosa fired a trey and Paul Lee nailed a four-ball -- to tie it at 88-all with still 37.4 seconds left.
The game looked headed for overtime but Williams had a crucial offensive rebound after a missed layup by Oftana and took a trip to the line on a foul by William Navarro with 6.8 seconds to go.
Williams made the front-end of his charities and missed the second one, giving the Hotshots one final possession and a chance to steal the game.
However, the Hotshots failed to get even a clear shot at the basket, sealing the Tropa’s survival.
Coach Chot Reyes’ troops had a great run in the fourth, enduring flagrant infractions incurred by Poy Erram and Oftana and the exit of Brian Heruela on an injury.
Back-to-back treys by Ganuelas-Rosser and Williams, and a drive-in basket by Oftana from a steal off Zavi Lucero highlighted TNT’s fourth-quarter siege.
Earlier, Jhonard Clarito came up with a 20-20 game and helped power Rain or Shine to a 92-89 win over NLEX.
Clarito scored 14 of his 20 points and hauled down 13 of his career-high 21 rebounds in the fourth quarter, powering the Elasto Painters back from a 69-77 deficit and into a 90-85 lead with still 1:43 left. / PBA.PH