ANTIPOLO – Titan Ultra remained alive and kicking in the battle for a quarterfinals berth in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Joshua Munzon drained a clutch four-pointer in the stretch run to lead the Giant Risers to a 127-119 win over a hard-fighting Phoenix side on Sunday at the Ynares Center.
Munzon’s basket off an offensive rebound by Cade Flores broke the game’s final deadlock and put the team on top for good, 121-117.
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Titan Ultra improved to a 4-6 (win-loss) record and kept its hopes of making the playoff right in its maiden conference in the pro league.
“At least, may chance pa kaming makapasok,” said Titan Ultra coach Johnedel Cardel following the come-from-behind win that put the team in a three-way fight with Meralco and Ginebra for the two remaining quarterfinals berth.
Calvin Abueva again came up huge for the Giant Risers with 35 points and 17 rebounds, Munzon and Aris Dionisio had 21 each, Jerick Balanza came off the bench to score 17 points, and Fran Yu and Flores had 14 and 11, respectively, in a collective effort for Titan.
“When everybody works hard not only on offense but also on defense, madaling manalo,” added Cardel.
After Munzon scored the game-leading 4, Phoenix closed in at 121-119 on an Evan Nelle layup, before Yu made two free throws following a duty foul by Nelle with 21 seconds left.
The Fuel Masters then went for a game-tying four-point shot, but veteran guard RR Garcia's basket hit just the front end of the rim that all but settled the outcome of the game.
Jason Perkins had an all-around game of 24 points, five rebounds, and seven assists in a losing effort for Phoenix, which ended its conference campaign on a two-game skid for a 3-8 record.
Bryan Santos was 6-of-9 from beyond the three-point line and finished with 18 points, while Tyler Tio produced a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists for the Fuel Masters, who led by as many as 67-56 in the third period.
The scores
Titan Ultra (127) - Abueva 35, Munzon 21, Dionisio 21, Balanza 17, Yu 14, Flores 11, Melecio 3, Ular 2, Javillonar 2, Sangco 1, Ambohot 0.
Phoenix (119) - Perkins 24, Santos 18, Tio 16, Rivero 12, Nelle 11, Ballungay 10, Taha 7, Kwekuteye 6, Garcia 6, Tuffin 5, Manganti 2, Ando 2.
Quarterscores: 32-27; 60-56; 91-86; 127-119.
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