ANTIPOLO — Calvin Abueva took over in the endgame to lift Titan Ultra past Terrafirma, 111-108, and keep their flickering playoff hopes alive in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup, Saturday at the Ynares Center here.
The ‘Beast’ finished with fantasy-like numbers of 20 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and three blocks. And he pulled out all the stops to make sure that they wouldn’t be the team that the Dyip would end their losing skid to.
After Maverick Ahanmisi missed the free throws that would’ve widened their lead to three, the 36-year-old made him pay dearly for it by swishing in the go-ahead floater off a Fran Yu dime for the 107-106 edge with 57.6 seconds left.
He then delivered the most important swat of the night by denying Jerrick Ahanmisi’s layup, then hauled down the loose ball before dishing it out to a wide-open Joshua Munzon for the uncontested layup to make it 109-106.
(C) PBA Images
Terrafirma did show some signs of life behind Louie Sangalang’s after-timeout bucket. It even made a key stop afterwards by stripping the ball away from a driving Abueva, but Lady Luck simply wasn’t in their favor.
Cade Flores stole the rock from Aljon Mariano, and Munzon would go on to settle the final count with a perfect trip to the line with 2.7 seconds left.
A miss by Jerrick Ahanmisi as time expired was enough for Titan Ultra to snap its two-game losing slide and earn just its third win of the conference, hiking its card to 3-6 to stay at no. 9 in the standings behind Ginebra (3-4).
“Kailangan ipanalo itong game na ito. Then next game, ganoon pa rin,” offered head coach Johnedel Cardel, who also beat his former team.
Munzon top-scored for the Giant Risers with 21 points. Fran Yu supplied 15 points and 11 assists as the young guard was also crucial in the fightback.
Von Pessumal, who’s bound for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, made 12 points, while Ato Ular added 11 as the quintet led the balanced attack.
Now down to its last two games in the eliminations, Titan Ultra is hoping to sweep both, starting with Phoenix, which it will face on December 14.
(C) PBA Images
The younger Ahanmisi, on the other hand, had 20 points to lead the Dyip, who fell to their sixth consecutive loss and stayed dead last with a 1-7 record.
Mark Nonoy had 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Meanwhile, Louie Sangalang and JM Bravo made 16 points each.
Aljon Mariano and Brent Paraiso chipped in 15 and 10, respectively, in yet another disappointing defeat.
Terrafirma appeared to have seized control of the match when Bravo powered a 12-2 run — entirely built off threes — toward a 98-86 lead with 8:29 to go, only to allow Abueva & Co. to flex much better poise.
“Sa akin, as a veteran, ayokong magpatalo, eh. Kaya ang inisip ko noon, talagang dinoble ko effort ko,” the two-time BPC awardee said.
The Scores:
Titan Ultra 111 – Munzon 21, Abueva 20, Yu 15, Pessumal 12, Ular 11, Dionisio 9, Flores 8, Balanza 7, Ambohot 4, Melecio 4, Cuntapay 0.
Terrafirma 108 – J. Ahanmisi 20, Nonoy 18, Sangalang 16, Bravo 16, Mariano 15, Paraiso 10, M. Ahanmisi 9, Zaldivar 2, Hanapi 2, Catapusan 0, Hernandez 0, Olivario 0, Garcia 0.
Quarterscores: 20-30; 49-54; 77-79; 111-108.
