By REYNALD MAGALLON
Terrafirma seemed to have finally learned its lesson from its painful endgame collapse in the last three games.
The Dyip showed poise in overtime and outlasted the TNT Tropang 5G, 111-106, to finally get over the hump and end a three-game slide in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Saturday, July 25.
Surrendering an 18-point lead in the second half and then trailing by five in the waning minutes of extension, 106-101, Terrafirma unloaded three-straight triples to take the fight out of TNT.
Juami Tiongson first nailed a triple to keep the Dyip within striking distance before Joseph Eriobu drained another trey to shove Terrafirma back on the lead, 107-106.
After a defensive stop on the other end, Maverick Ahanmisi buried a left corner triple to deliver the dagger for Terrafirma.
Justin Strings led the way with 36 points, 12 rebounds and six assists but committed nine turnovers including the most crucial at the end of regulation – a five-second ball hogging violation – that allowed TNT to get back the possession and force the overtime with a hook shot from Jordan Heading with 0.3 seconds left.
Tiongson fired 24 points while Ahanmisi chipped in 20 points with five rebounds and six assists.
Meanwhile, Macau battled back from a 19-point deficit and then leaned on Ramon Cao to steady the ship down the stretch and end its slump with a 132-126 victory over Titan Ultra.
Jenning Leung announced his return with 22 points — all of which came in the second half where the Giant Pandas made their rally — while Cao had 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to put away the Giant Risers for their first win of the tournament.
Macau ended a four-game losing skid to open the season-ending conference while also pumping life to its playoff hopes heading into the second round.
Devondre Perry led the charge with 32 points and 22 rebounds while Cao also collared 13 rebounds. Kobey Lam and Damian Chongqui finished with 19 apiece.
Titan Ultra led 30-11 to start the game and then kept a double-digit deficit even until intermission, 67-51.
Macau, however, erupted for 44 points in the third to take a 95-94 lead.
Tirrell Brown paced Titan Ultra with 30 points while Joshua Munzon added 19. The loss also wasted a stellar game from Fran Yu who finished with 17 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds.
