Oftana erupts for 37 points as Tropang Giga storm back vs Road Warriors

MANILA, Philippines -- Calvin Oftana tied his career-high 37 points and led the TNT Tropang Giga to a furious come-from-behind win against the NLEX Road Warriors, 104-101, in PBA Philippine Cup action Saturday at the Candon City Arena in Ilocos.

Oftana splashed eight of his 12 3-point attempts against the rolling Road Warriors, which saw their four-game winning streak snapped.

TNT was trailing by 12, 78-90, at the start of the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer by Michael Miranda.

In the next possessions, Jayson Castro and Oftana teamed up and unleashed a 9-0 run capped by the sweet-shooting forward’s trey that cut the lead to three, 87-90.

The Tropang Giga played catch-up in the next minutes, as Castro and Oftana continued to tow their team to the driver’s seat. They finally took the lead with a triple by the speedy guard with 3:52 left.

After Robert Bolick answered with a layup, Oftana cleaned up a miss by Glenn Khobuntin and found RR Pogoy for the big trey to help TNT go up by two, 103-101, with less than three minutes left.

The two teams could not buy a basket in the succeeding possessions, which favored the Tropang Giga. The next points either team scored came after Khobuntin split his free throws that gave TNT the final score.

Bolick tried to tie the game up with a last-second attempt, but it was no good, sealing the deal.

Backstopping Oftana’s explosion was Pogoy, who had 21 points and seven rebounds.

Castro added 16 markers, six rebounds and five dimes.

Robbie Herndon also tied his career-high with 25 points, which he also reached against TNT in the previous conference last year, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

Bolick chipped in 23 for the Road Warriors.

The Tropang Giga has won their second straight game and rose to 4-3. NLEX slipped to 5-2 in the season.