TNT survived a scare it never saw coming. Playing without five players — including three injured starters — the Tropang 5G watched a comfortable 21-point cushion nearly evaporate in the final three minutes before escaping with a 106-103 win over Macau on Sunday, July 19, opening its PBA Governors’ Cup title-redemption bid on a nervy but successful note at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Shorthanded Tropang 5G Grinds Out Hard-Fought Win

TNT entered the game already missing Calvin Oftana, Poy Erram, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to injury, while Jayson Castro also sat out in street clothes. Kelly Williams, meanwhile, remained in the U.S. attending to a family matter — leaving coach Chot Reyes to piece together a rotation on the fly in the team’s very first tuneup of the conference.

Despite the depleted lineup, TNT took control of the game behind big performances from import Darius Days and guard Rey Nambatac. Days, still working his way back into game shape after a long layoff, delivered a solid debut with 23 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Nambatac matched him with 23 points and six assists of his own, while Roger Pogoy chipped in 21 points, including a third-quarter triple that pushed the lead to 101-83.

“Obviously, you can’t be satisfied with an ending like that, but at the same time we knew we were going to struggle,” Reyes said after the win. “Number one, kulang kami sa players. We’ve got three starters who are not playing. And number two, this is our first tuneup game.”

Giant Pandas’ Furious Rally Falls Just Short

What looked like a comfortable win turned tense in a hurry. After Nambatac’s three-point play made it 104-89 with 3:19 left, Macau exploded with a stunning 12-0 run to cut the deficit to 101-104. Free throws from Damien Chongqui trimmed it further to 103-105, and the Giant Pandas got the ball back with just 4.5 seconds remaining after a Nambatac split at the line.

Xucheng Liu grabbed the defensive rebound and fired a desperation heave from long range — but it sailed wide and short, sealing the win for TNT.

De’Vondre Perry paced Macau with a monster 36 points and 10 rebounds, while Chongqui bounced back from an early ejection in Friday’s 149-124 blowout loss to Converge with 24 points and eight assists. Kobey Lam and Ramon Cao added 14 points apiece, with Cao grabbing 12 boards, as Macau fell to 0-4 despite putting up its most spirited fight of the conference so far.

Reyes, for his part, isn’t panicking. “So, as you can see, there’s a lot to work on, and the game we played tonight cannot match with the other teams in our group,” he said. “But if we focus on the right things, just make sure we put some effort and focus on our defense, then we should be fine.”