PBA: Calvin Abueva double-double, Joshua Munzon dagger lift Titan Ultra past Phoenix

Calvin Abueva had a big night, while Joshua Munzon delivered the final blow as Titan Ultra pulled off a 127-119 win over Phoenix, boosting its PBA Season 50 playoff hopes on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Abueva posted a huge double-double of 35 points and 17 rebounds to go with four assists, two steals, and one block while Munzon issued the dagger four-pointer to finish with 21 markers, five dimes, four boards, two steals, and one block.

The late breakaway allowed the Giant Risers to improve to 4-6 ahead of a highly important game against Barangay Ginebra on December 21, which could decide which team will enter the quarterfinals.

There was no shortage of help from the rest of the Giant Risers with Aris Dionisio coming up big as well with 21 points on 4-of-10 clip from beyond the arc while Jerrick Balanza and Fran Yu chipped in 17 and 14 markers each. Yu also dished out 10 assists for his second-straight double-double outings.

But it was Munzon's cold-blooded four-point shot that salvaged the game for Titan Ultra.

Tied at 117-all late in the fourth, Balanza attempted to go for the win but his corner triple misfired. Titan Ultra, though, secured the offensive board thanks to a tap from Cade Flores, who sent the leather to the hands of Munzon.

Munzon then didn't hesitate to knock it down from way out as he gave his side a crucial 121-117 cushion with 30.7 seconds left.

Phoenix was able to cut the deficit to two when Evan Nelle cleaned up a missed layup from Ricci Rivero, but Yu calmly sank a pair of free throws to build another four-point cushion.

The Fuel Masters completely faded when RR Garcia missed out on a potential game-tying four-point shot as Abueva sealed it with two freebies and a dunk in the final second.

Jason Perkins paced Phoenix with 24 points, five rebounds, and seven assists while Bryan Santos and Tyler Tio chipped in 18 and 16 markers apiece as they fell to 3-8.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News