Titan Ultra finally broke out of its funk and deepened Blackwater’s woes with a 97-86 triumph in the PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday, November 5, at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Calvin Abueva led the charge with 23 points and 14 rebounds for his third straight double-double, while Joshua Munzon scored 18. Fran Yu delivered when it mattered most, firing 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to power Titan’s late surge and halt a four-game skid for a 2-4 record.

“Luckily, pumapasok lang tira ko kasi kapag nag-ka-clog sila kina Josh at Calvin malilibre’t malilibre kaming mga guards. Iyon ang opportunity naming mag-create para sa kanila,” Yu said, grateful for the spacing created by Titan’s stars.

Cardel praises second-half discipline

Titan trailed by as much as 11 in the first half and entered halftime down 42-47, something coach Johnedel Cardel attributed to poor execution.

“Kailangan we have to change our attitude in the second half kasi nag-kanya-kanya ulit kami. Hindi kami makapag-push ng bola kaya lumamang ng first half ‘yung Blackwater, because of that,” Cardel said.

“But in the third quarter and fourth quarter we did our gameplan, especially in pushing the ball and playing defense,” he added.

Defense keys win as Blackwater suffers fourth straight loss

Titan’s tighter defense also slowed down Blackwater’s main guns. Sedrick Barefield finished with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting after dropping nine in the opening quarter, while Christian David struggled early before posting 15 points on 6-of-20 alongside 11 rebounds.

“Barefield medyo na-limit namin kahit papaano and David ganoon din,” Cardel said. “We had a good plan defending them.”

Blackwater drew within 77-85 after Barefield scored and fed David, but Yu responded with a crucial triple that sparked a 12-5 closing run and sealed the win at 97-82 before the final margin settled at 11.