Brown tapped to rescue Giant Risers
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JOSHUA Munzon struggles, finishing with only six points in Titan Ultra’s 74-105 loss to Converge in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup last Sunday.
Photograph courtesy of PBA
Titan Ultra is set to revert to its original choice — Tirrell Brown — when it battles NLEX in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Tuesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said the Giant Risers will be fined P50,000 if they fail to field an import for the third consecutive time, prompting them to hire the services of Brown ahead of its collision with the red-hot Road Warriors squad in the first game at 5:15 p.m.
“They told me they will field their import in the next game. If they don’t have an import by the third game, they will be fined,” Marcial said in a phone conversation.
“Let’s see what happens by tomorrow.”
Titan Ultra has struggled to field an import in the early stretch of the season-ending conference after James Milton failed to secure a clearance from the International Basketball Federation.
With that, the Giant Risers absorbed a 74-105 beating at the hands of Converge last Sunday after opening its campaign with a 100-113 loss to Terrafirma last Friday.
Against the FiberXers, the absence of a reinforcement was greatly felt as the Giant Risers missed all of their 17 three-pointers in the first half, pushing them to a deep 24-point hole, 26-50, early on.
Top gun Joshua Munzon struggled with only six points, allowing Fran Yu and Bryan Sajonia to lead the scoring parade with 14 markers apiece for the Giant Risers, who tallied their lowest scoring output of 74 since joining the league last year.
Aside from avoiding the league sanction, Titan Ultra hopes the arrival of Brown, its original choice, will provide the spark it badly needs after its sluggish start.
The 32-year-old big man spent most of his professional career in South America, seeing action in leagues in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay before accepting the Giant Risers’ offer.
The Giant Risers are competing in Group A together with NLEX, Terrafirma, Converge, San Miguel Beermen, Macau Giant Pandas and defending champion TNT Tropang 5G. MARK ESCARLOTE
