TNT took control of the Season 50 PBA semifinals on Friday, beating Meralco 103-95 in Game 5 to break a 2-2 tie and move one win from the next round. Chris McCullough led the way with 42 points, and the win gave TNT a 3-2 series lead after a night when the offense finally found enough room to breathe.

McCullough shot 16-of-28 from the field, made three 3-pointers and added 11 rebounds in a performance that matched the moment. TNT also got 22 points off the bench from Jordan Heading, while Roger Pogoy and Calvin Oftana combined for 28 more, helping the team reach 62 second-half points and top 100 for the first time in the series.

That scoring burst mattered because the matchup had been tight through four games, and TNT had spent much of the series searching for a way to separate late. The franchise has also been searching for more firepower since fans began wondering whether McCullough could fill the void left by Bol Bol, and for one night he looked exactly like the answer TNT needed.

Meralco had its own source of resistance in Patrick Gardner, who finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds, but the game shifted when foul trouble caught up with him again. Gardner picked up his fourth foul at the 6:45 mark of the payoff period and went to the bench, and TNT pulled away after he left. Chris Newsome scored 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting, Jason Brickman missed four of five field-goal attempts and CJ Cansino finished with four points, leaving Meralco without enough support around Gardner's work.

The result leaves TNT one victory from advancing, while Meralco faces the harder job now: finding a way to win after Gardner's foul trouble helped swing the decisive minutes against it. The next game will decide whether TNT turns this 3-2 lead into a series win or Meralco finds one more answer before the semifinals slip away.