Calvin Oftana felt like a rookie again, then played like a star. Out of the PBA for more than three months, he scored 31 points to power TNT to a 116-92 rout of Terrafirma in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday night, October 7, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

“Feeling rookie uli, sobrang excited,” said Oftana, who was playing his first game since June. He set the tone early with eight first-period points, including two triples.

Calvin Oftana Powers TNT Tropang 5G Past Terrafirma in PBA Governors’ Cup

The win let the Tropang 5G avenge a 106-111 loss to the Dyip in their previous meeting. New import Nick Hornsby had a solid debut with 26 points.

Jordan Heading, Henry Galinato, Rey Nambatac and RR Pogoy added 14, 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively. TNT improved to 5-4, tied with Converge, while Terrafirma dropped to 3-6.

Maverick Ahanmisi and Justin Strings led the Dyip with 27 and 25 points, respectively. Coach Chot Reyes said execution was key, especially on defense, including holding Juami Tiongson scoreless.

TNT Still Shorthanded in the PBA Quarterfinals Race

Oftana and Jayson Castro both played their first games of the conference for TNT. The top four teams in each of the two groups will advance to the quarterfinals.

“Unti-unti, nakukumpleto,” Reyes said. “But we’re still without Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser because of dengue. And we’re still missing Kelly Williams and Poy Erram.”

Oftana himself took pride in the effort to hold Tiongson scoreless. Three TNT players named by Reyes remain out.

Earlier, NLEX, with new import Deonte Burton, beat a Macau team 138-78 to improve to 8-2 in the same group. San Miguel Beer is second at 7-2.