Titan Ultra rises to occasion

Games today:

(Ynares Center-Antipolo)

5:15 p.m. — Blackwater vs Magnolia

7:30 p.m. — NLEX vs TNT

Titan Ultra ignited a third quarter storm before holding off San Miguel Beer in a morale-boosting, 119-112, breakthrough victory in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup Saturday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.

Crushed by an average of 32 points in their first two assignments, the Giant Risers found their touch on both ends of the floor and dropped 41 points in the decisive third period to give new coach Rensy Bajar his first win in the league.

“Our motivation coming into this game was we’re really outplayed in our first two games — blowout losses against Terrafirma and Phoenix. It’s a challenge for me and the players to have some pride out there,” Bajar said.

Titan Ultra capitalized on the rusty showing of the Beermen, who are coming off the Philippine Cup conquest last month.

“Maybe they’re still on cloud nine and maybe they didn’t take us that seriously so we took advantage of that opportunity that San Miguel gave us.”

Joshua Munzon scored 29 points to pace the Giant Risers. Import Michael Gilmore added a double-double of 28 points and 13 rebounds while Cade Flores added 13 points and eight boards.

Titan Ultra extended a three-point halftime lead to 21 in the third period after Gilmore converted a triple for an 83-62 count with 3:29 left.

San Miguel closed the gap, 116-112, with 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter on a four-pointer by Don Trollano. Munzon split his charities on the other end, Trollano turned the ball over before Fran Yu iced the game with two foul shots for the final count.

Scoreless in the first two quarters, CJ Perez scored his team-high 27 points in the second half while Trollano had 21 points for the Beermen, who played sans injured Jericho Cruz.

Mo Tautuaa had 18 points, June Mar Fajardo submitted 15 points and 17 boards while import Marcus Lee had a dismal four-point, five-rebound outing and was on the bench when the Beermen made a second half run.

Meanwhile, NLEX shoots for a third straight win and a share of the lead against rebound-seeking reigning champion TNT today at the same Antipolo venue.

Tipoff time is at 7:30 p.m. after winless Blackwater tries its luck with a new import against Magnolia at 5:15 p.m.

The Road Warriors took care of their first two assignments, beating Blackwater, 84-81, on opening day and the Hotshots, 112-105, last week to sit behind league-leading Terrafirma (3-0).

On the other hand, the Tropang 5G eye to barge into the win column sans suspended Glen Khobuntin following his involvement in an exchange of fists with Rain or Shine import Jaylen Brown in their 109-112 loss last Friday.

The Bossing, meanwhile, has tapped Robert Upshaw III to replace Daniel Ochefu, who suffered a knee injury, hoping to snatch the elusive win after losing back-to-back games.

Magnolia is also looking to halt back-to-back losses.