Titan Ultra made sure that no repeat of their first-round encounter would take place by getting back at Macau, 132-128, to notch only its second win in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Tuesday.
The Giant Risers showed much better poise this time unlike in their July 25 duel in Antipolo, with Tirrell Brown leading the closeout after the guest team rallied back from 25 down and knocked to within a single digit late in the game.
The wide-bodied import figured in a shootout with counterpart De’Vondre Perry but had the last laugh when he knocked down a perimeter jumper, which proved to be the dagger as it pushed their lead to 132-124 with 12.6 seconds left.
Eventually, Coach Rensy Bajar and his charges would improve to 2-5 in the Group A standings, giving themselves enough confidence as well entering their clash with a vengeful TNT this Saturday at the Ynares Center II in Montalban.
They’d be taking on the team they stunned last July 22 in Antipolo, 103-87, for their first win but the defending champions have since gotten on a roll.
Brown flirted with a triple-double with 36 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists to lead Titan. Joshua Munzon backed him up with an 18-6-5 stat line.
Roi Sumang supplied 14 points and five rebounds, while rookie Bryan Sajonia added 13 markers as the quartet steadied the ship after getting rocked when Mark Omega suffered a bad fall and had to be stretchered out of the venue.
Omega landed on his back after leaping for a rebound at the 11:07-mark of the final period and struggled to get up on his own before the medics came in.
