JOSHUA Munzon underlined the value of the four-point shot as Titan Ultra gave Barangay Ginebra a scare before surrendering a 108-105 decision at the end of the PBA 50th Season elimination round on Sunday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings looked on their way to victory with a 102-94 lead with less than a minute left in the game. But Munzon drew a landing-spot flagrant foul on Jayson David from beyond the four-point arc with 35 seconds to go, leading to four free throws and possession to Titan in a potential game-changer.
READ: Ginebra battles back to beat Titan, arrange playoff vs Converge
After missing the first charity, Munzon hit the next three free throws, then maximized their extra possession by knocking down a four-pointer from near top of the key for a rare seven-point play to trim the Ginebra lead to just one, 102-101 with 28 seconds left.
“That four-point line, it kind of gives everybody a chance late in the game,” Munzon said. “If you make a couple of them, you bring the game a little closer. And then we ended up making some, making it a little closer.”
Fast forward to RJ Abarrientos hitting two free throws to give the Gin Kings a 106-101 lead, the Giant Risers did make the game closer again as Calvin Abueva drained his own pull-up four-point attempt to cut the deficit to one with four seconds left.
Ginebra, though, held on to clinch the fifth seed at 7-4 and arrange a quarterfinal duel with twice-to-beat Converge on Christmas Day.
Titan Ultra, on the other hand, will barely miss the playoffs after finishing at ninth spot with a 4-7 record.
“We just wanted to come out and compete, just continue the good basketball we’ve been playing the last couple of games,” Munzon said.
“And give our fans something to cheer for before Christmas. And hopefully some momentum going to the next conference.”
Asked if he regrets missing the first of four free throws in that seven-point play that could’ve tied the game instead and made the game more interesting, Munzon refuses to dwell on it.
“No, it's just part of the game. You're not going to make every shot, even if it's free throws,” Munzon said after making all but one of his five charities in the game and finishing with a game-high 31 points in 39 minutes.
“I mean, I've shot a lot of free throws this conference. I think this is, I probably shot the most free throws than anybody this conference. So, you know, I'm confident in myself. I'll step up there. Three out of four, I wish I would have made four. But it's all a part of the game.”
Munzon is also looking at the positives of the Giant Risers’ debut conference overall.
“Not too bad. We wish we would have won a couple more games. But it is what it is,” the two-way playmaker beamed.
“It's our first conference together. New coach, new team, new everything. A lot of these teams have been together way longer than we have.”
“So, I mean, we're just building, building, building, building. And we were happy to at least put ourselves in position to maybe give ourselves a chance,” he added.
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