MANILA, Philippines — Bol Bol sank three of his four foul shots inside the last 1:08 to lift eighth seed TNT to a pulsating 96-93 win against NLEX, forcing a do-or-die game in their PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal match on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
NLEX import Cady Lalanne had one last chance to send the game into overtime, but his three-point attempt failed to hit the mark, allowing the Tropang 5G to live and fight for another day as they defend their title in the mid-season conference.
The 7-foot-3 Bol posted another monster effort after finishing with 34 points and 14 rebounds, along with three shot blocks. NLEX, the top seed in the playoffs, will try to get the job done when the team faces off with TNT anew in their rubber match set this Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Calvin Oftana also came up big after scoring 19 points, spiked by four triples in the game, marked by nine deadlocks and 13 lead changes.
Roger Pogoy added 15, while Jayson Castro had 14 in a night that saw him become just the 17th local player to reach the elite 10,000 points club in the PBA’s 50-season history.
Lalanne led NLEX with 17 points and 15 rebounds, Robert Bolick had a quiet 15 on just eight attempts from the field.
Xyrus Torres and rookie LJay Gonzales had 14 and 13, respectively.
