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MANILA, Philippines—TNT avenged its previous loss and dominated San Miguel, 110-90, in Game 5 of its semifinals series in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday at DHVSU Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
The Tropang Giga, who got blown out 116-90 in Game 4, took a crucial 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and just need one more win to return to the finals a year after losing to Barangay Ginebra.
A 32-17 opening quarter was what TNT needed to assert its control over the confused Beermen who struggled to fight offense from the guard and wing positions.
Terrence Romeo, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot, and Chris Ross, combined for a terrible 7-of-20 outing from the field as the Tropang Giga enjoyed a healthy 14-of-28 shooting night Roger Pogoy and Mikey Williams.
TNT head coach Chot Reyes also had the luxury of having Kelly Williams back after getting put under the league’s health and safety protocols.
Poy Erram, who suffered a fractured cheekbone in Game 4, also suited up for Game 5 giving Reyes his much-needed frontcourt depth against San Miguel.
“Our mindset was to forget about Game 4 and that we’re at 0-0,” said Reyes. “We couldn’t compete without Kelly and Poy, so just to have that extra body, that extra big guy to compete against June Mar [Fajardo] and Mo Tautuaa, who were giving us problems this series, was big for us.”
Jayson Castro had 19 points and eight assists to lead TNT while Mikey and Pogoy both had 18 points.
Kelly, in his return, had 12 points while Erram pitched in 10 points and six rebounds for the Tropang Giga.
Fajardo finished with a game-high 23 points with 12 rebounds for the Beermen.