ANTIPOLO — Terrafirma kept its quarterfinal hopes alive in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup following a bounce-back victory over the luckless Macau in a high-scoring affair, 146-127, on Saturday evening at the Ynares Center here.
Coming off a beatdown at the hands of TNT, the Dyip took control early this time before pulling away for good in the third quarter toward hiking their record to 4-6 and staying just outside the Top Four, sitting behind the 5-4 Converge.
Their playoff fate, though, isn’t entirely in their hands anymore, but head coach Ronald Tubid & Co. refuse to give up heading into their two remaining games in Group A against San Miguel Beer and Titan Ultra, in that order.
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“As long as may mga games pa, we need to keep on competing lang. ‘Di natin alam, baka magtatatalo ‘yung iba,” the former player turned mentor said.
Import Justin Strings top-scored for Terrafirma with 32 points alongside 11 rebounds and three assists plus a steal in a turnover-less outing.
Juami Tiongson was redemption personified, firing 30 points and seven assists after being held scoreless by the Tropang 5G last game as he was targeted on defense for his role in their upset of the reigning champs in the first round.
No. 1 overall pick Geo Chiu submitted a strong double-double of 18 points and 20 rebounds as he, too, bounced back after tallying four points versus TNT.
Rookie JM Bravo came through with 22 points to lead the bench mob, while Joseph Eriobu and Brent Paraiso chipped in 11 points apiece.
Maverick Ahanmisi came just short of a rare triple-double, as the veteran guard finished with six points, 12 rebounds, and 14 assists without a turnover.
“Credit to the players. ‘Yung loss namin against TNT, hindi kami ‘yun eh. We always compete. Nung first and second quarters, andun pa kami eh,” Tubid said. “Credit to the boys, this game nakuha namin.”
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Oscar Lopez, on the other hand, finished with 41 points and 26 rebounds to lead the guest team in the loss that formally booted it out of contention (2-8).
Kobey Lam backed him up with 37 points, seven rebounds, and six assists as they carried the load for a team coming off a historic 60-point loss to NLEX.
The Scores:
Terrafirma (146) – Strings 32, Tiongson 30, Bravo 22, Chiu 18, Paraiso 11, Eriobu 11, Miller 6, Ahanmisi 6, Mariano 4, Catapusan 4, Hanapi 2, Umali 0, Garcia 0, Zaldivar 0, Adamos 0.
Macau (127) – Lopez 41, Lam 37, Lao 20, Chao 14, Lu 9, Liu 3, Zhang 2, Chen 1, Sun 0.
Quarterscores: 42-35, 77-66, 115-95, 146-127.
