Macau leaned on collective effort down the stretch to leave Terrafirma a frustrated bunch, 96-92, to register back-to-back wins for the first time in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Kobey Lam came through with the painful hit to their foes with 10.2 seconds remaining, scoring off a Brent Paraiso foul in transition for the 96-94 lead as he made sure not to waste Jenning Leung’s efforts to gain possession.
The former Bay Area Dragons star wasn’t able to complete the three-point play opportunity, but he more than made up for missing the bonus as he chased and eventually secured his own miss before dishing it to Damian Chongqui.
The diminutive guard then went on to go a perfect 2-for-2 from the line with 4.1 seconds to go for the eventual scoreline, and the result would be sealed moments later after Juami Tiongson’s attempt from four hit nothing.
(C) PBA Images
The guest team scored the game’s last six points in a strong closeout, sparked by De’Vondre Perry en route to completing the comeback from 15 down.
“We knew that this was one of the games that if we’re gonna make the playoffs, we have to get these next few games,” said head coach Marcus Elliott, whose side improved to 2-4 entering the second round of the group stage.
“It’s big for our confidence. We got another week off before we play again, so now it’s just trying to keep our stuff fine-tuned,” he added.
Perry finished with 34 points and 14 rebounds for the Giant Pandas. Chongqui, with an injured leg and all, delivered 29 points, including 13 in the fourth.
Lam added 12 markers for Macau, which will open its second round campaign versus Titan Ultra on August 4, Tuesday, also at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
(C) PBA Images
Terrafirma, on the other hand, was led by Justin Strings, who scored 34 points alongside eight rebounds in the loss, which was indeed a heartbreaker, given that they were coming off an upset of TNT in their previous outing.
Strings himself actually gave the Dyip the 92-90 lead with a hook shot that gave some semblance of recovery after losing a big lead, but it proved to be their final points of the night as the opposition showed better character.
Maverick Ahanmisi had 20 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists while Juami Tiongson added 15 in the defeat that dropped their record to 2-4.
Terrafirma will start its second-round campaign by challenging current Group A leaders NLEX on Friday, August 7, in the same venue.
The Scores:
Macau 96 – Perry 34, Chongqui 29, Lam 12, Cao 9, Leung 8, Ma 2, Lu 2, Chao 0, Liu 0
Terrafirma 92 – Strings 34, Ahanmisi 20, Tiongson 15, Paraiso 9, Chiu 6, Bravo 4, Eriobu 2, Garcia 2, Hanapi 0, Mariano 0, Catapusan 0, Umali 0, Adamos 0.
Quarterscores: 19-28, 43-54, 72-68, 96-92.
