ANTIPOLO – Juami Tiongson outdueled Von Pessumal in a shootout, and Terrafirma took the runaway 149-117 win for a graceful exit to another miserable PBA season.
Tiongson finished with 30 points to Pessumal’s 26, helping the Dyip get off to a sizzling start on the way to the lopsided win.
The Dyip exited with a 5-7 (win-loss) record and fell short of advancing to the playoffs, suffering the same fate as Titan Ultra in the Season 50 Governors' Cup.
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Maverick Ahanmisi, an unrestricted free agent now that the season is over, registered a career-triple double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists.
Coach Ronald Tubid said Terrafirma could have advanced to its first quarterfinals in two seasons had it won a couple of close losses against NLEX (100-101), San Miguel (104-109), Converge (103-105), and Macau (92-96).
“If we played our A-game (in those games), supposed to be pasok kami. Pero wala e, you can’t control that. Tapos na yun, e,” said the former PBA player turned coach.
Tiongson, who was 6-for-10 from three-point range, exploded right in the opening quarter, scoring 18 points, while Ahanmisi had 10 to stake the Dyip to a 47-26 lead.
But Pessumal answered in the second period, dropping 14 points as the Giant Risers made it an 11-point deficit at the break.
Terrafirma however, played steady the rest of the way, with Chris Miller sustaining the Dyip’s run by shooting all of his nine points in the third period.
Import Justin Strings and Joseph Eriobu finished with 12 points each, while top pick Geo Chiu capped his rookie season with eight points and eight rebounds for Terrafirma, which is again in the tight race with Blackwater for the No. 1 overall pick of Season 51.
Tirrel Brown had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Giant Risers, who finished the conference with a 2-10 and record and 8-27 for their entire first season in the league.
The scores
Terrafirma (149) - Tiongson 30, Ahanmisi 18, Strings 12, Eriobu 12, Miller 9, Garcia 9, Paraiso 8, Mariano 8, Chiu 8, Bravo 5, Catapusan 5, Zaldivar 5, Umali 4, Adamos 3, Hanapi 2.
Titan (117) - Pessumal 26, Brown 24, Yu 11, Dionisio 11, Caralipio 11, Ular 7, Garcia 6, Javillonar 6, Wong 5, Omega 4, Amores 4, Inigo 2, Deles 0.
Quarterscores: 47-26; 76-65; 109-94; 149-117.
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