Roger Pogoy came up big when it mattered most, spearheading TNT Tropang 5G to a 98-91 victory over Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to open their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series Wednesday, June 25, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Pogoy dropped a game-high 28 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, fueling TNT’s breakaway after Rain or Shine cut a nine-point deficit to just one, 73-72. As the Elasto Painters attempted to rally, Pogoy’s timely buckets kept TNT ahead before contributions from Poy Erram and Simon Enciso helped widen the gap to as much as 88-79.

Calvin Oftana then sealed the outcome from the free throw line, converting critical charities in the final 92 seconds to hand TNT a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“We wanted to make sure that we keep our focus only on this game, on these 48 minutes,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes, who emphasized the importance of containing Rain or Shine’s offense. “We know they’re the second highest scoring team in the league, so we had to force them into a halfcourt game—and I think that made the difference.”

Erram finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Oftana chipped in their own double-doubles—13 points and 10 rebounds for Rosser, and 12 and 10 for Oftana.

Rain or Shine was led by Andrei Caracut with 16 points, with four other players scoring in double digits. However, their 35-of-86 shooting from the field and 8-of-35 from long range, along with a 59-44 rebounding disadvantage, proved too much to overcome.

Despite taking five-point leads twice, the last at 51-46 in the third, the E-Painters failed to contain TNT’s late-game surge, falling behind in a game that featured nine deadlocks and eight lead changes.

TNT will look to move one step closer to replicating its past semifinal success over Rain or Shine when the series resumes on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.