Antipolo: Just like last conference, Macau's first win in the PBA Governors' Cup came at the expense of Titan Ultra, scoring a 132-126 victory at Ynares Center in Antipolo on Saturday. De'Vondre Perry dominated with 32 points and 22 rebounds. Also contributing were Ramon Cao, Jenning Leung, Kobey Lam, and Damien Chongqui as the Giant Pandas overhauled an early 19-point deficit to tie the Giant Risers at 1-4 in Group A.
According to Philippines News Agency, Macau's first win in its initial guest stint in the last Commissioner's Cup was also against Titan, 119-107, on April 21. 'We were just able to piece it together today. But we started off badly too. Our first half was not acceptable. They just outplayed us,' Macau coach Marcus Elliott said. 'My speech at halftime was, 'Hey, man, get your head out of your behind and come out and play hard. They're just outhustling us, but we were able to put it together.'
Ramon Cao notched his own double-double of 28 points and 13 rebounds. Jenning Leung, suiting up for the very first time in the conference, went scoreless in the first half on just three tries but caught fire in the second to finish with 22 points. 'Jenning is a great team player, always has a great attitude. He was being too passive in the first half. It's like he came in, he didn't want to step on any toes and I basically just had to tell him, 'Stop being too nice. We need you to put your foot on the pedal, be aggressive, look for yours,'' Elliott said.
Damien Chongqui wound up with 19 points and six assists, while Kobey Lam also tallied 19 points, with 10 of those coming in the third quarter that helped Macau raze a 51-67 halftime deficit and take a 95-94 lead into the final period. Leung was at his hottest in the first five minutes of the fourth period with 14 of his points that made it a 114-107 count before Cao took over after Titan wrested back the lead at 120-119.
Tirrell Brown's 30 points and 14 rebounds led the Giant Risers, who raced to an early 30-11 lead. Joshua Munzon scored 19 points and Fran Yu added 17 points, on top of a new career-high 14 assists, which is also a franchise record and tied the season-high set by NLEX's Robert Bolick in the last Commissioner's Cup.
