Grand slam bid stays alive

MANILA, Philippines —  Back in Grand Slam business.

Gritty and mentally tough in an absolute win-or-bust Game 5, TNT produced out an 86-78  lifesaving victory over San Miguel Beer last night, stopping the splashing of white confetti on the Smart Araneta Coliseum’s court and foamy beer on the SMB dugout in celebration of a championship.

With the TNT faithful led by PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan himself cheering them on, the Tropang 5G outworked the Beermen every step of the way to pull one back in the PBA Philippine Cup finals at 2-3 and in effect, re-energize their Triple Crown bid.

The Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup kingpins now have the opportunity to tie up the race-to-four on Friday and force SMB to a Game 7 sudden death.

“I saw a lot of fight (from the players) and just an unwillingness to give up,” said Reyes, whose charges remained in upbeat mood despite falling to 1-3.

“Our pre-game talk was all about having a very, very long season and now we’re in the final week. I told them to make it the best week, let’s fight as hard as we can and this happens.”

Brandon Ganuelas Rosser spearheaded TNT’s defiant stand against clincher-shooting SMB on this stormy night, dropping team highs of 18 points, three steals and five shot blocks that went with five rebounds.

Kelly Williams (14), Calvin Oftana (13) Jordan Heading (13) and RR Pogoy (11) made significant contributions, as always, as the Tropang 5G got extra lift from backup guard Almond Vosotros (11).

After giving up an average of 103.67 in losing the last three games, the Tropang 5G held SMB to a lowly 78.