TITAN Ultra got off to a hot start but needed to cool down a rallying Macau side in the homestretch for a 132-128 win Tuesday night in the PBA Governors Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Tirrell Brown finished with a near triple-double of 36 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists in the wire-to-wire win that saw Titan enjoyed as many as a 29-point lead.
But the Giant Risers had to keep the Giant Pandas at bay after the guest team suddenly threatened at 130-124 with 1:05 remaining in the game.
It was the second win in five outings for Titan Ultra, which tied Macau at the bottom of Group A.
The Giant Risers poured it out right away in the opening half as Joshua Munzon, Bryan Sajonia, Roi Sumang, and Brown caught fire and allowed the team to record a franchise best score in a quarter (47) and in a half (80).
It was during a stretch in the second period when they enjoyed their biggest lead of 66-37.
But winning coach Rensy Bajar was not surprised with the way Macau came back from the grave.
“We know Macau will comeback. Yun ang sinabi ko sa kanila sa huddle,” said the Titan Ultra mentor, who warned the Giant Risers about the Giant Pandas’ ability to mount a rally.
“We just stuck together as a group. Ang ganda ng nilaro ng second group namin,”noted Bajar as he pointed out the huge 57-16 discrepancy in bench points between the two teams.
Munzon scored 10 of his 18 points in the opening quarter while adding six rebounds and five assists, Sumang added 14 and Sajonia with 13 on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range.
A downside to the win was the injury suffered by rookie Mark Omega, who hurt his back following a bad fall early in the fourth quarter. The big man out of University of Perpetual Help and Letran College was stretchered out of the venue and brought to the hospital.
The loss snapped Macau’s two-game winning run despite getting a monster game of 45 points and 14 rebounds from import De’Vondre Perry, who was 6-of-12 from three-point region.
Ramon Cao also had a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds, along with Jeffrey Ma with 18 and 12.
Shifty guard Damian Chongqui also had 18 points for the guest team.
The scores
Titan (132) -- Brown 36, Munzon 18, Sumang 14, Sajonia 13, Balanza 9, Ular 9, Dionisio 8, Yu 7, Omega 6, Javillonar 5, Pessumal 4, , Wong 3.
Macau (128) -- Perry 45, Cao 24, Ma 18, Chongqui 18, Lam 14, Leung 7, Lu 2, Chao 0.
Quarterscores: 47-29; 80-60; 108-93; 132-128.
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