Intense was the 2023 PBA Governors Cup game between Converge and Meralco on Friday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
And the intensity reached its peak with 6.9 seconds left in overtime.
With the Bolts up 132-128 over the FiberXers and Meralco having possession, of course, Converge had to play the foul game to stop the clock.
Barkley Ebona fouled Allein Maliksi. However, the FEU product got a little too rough, clocking Maliksi.
The UST standout did not take kindly to it, charging at Ebona and grabbing his neck. It resulted in a flagrant foul penalty two on Maliksi and an F1 on Ebona.
Meralco won the game, 132-129. But to add insult to injury, Maliksi also alleged through a secondary source in Raymar Jose that Converge head coach Aldin Ayo intentionally tried to hurt Meralco import KJ McDaniels.
In response, Ayo said that the allegation made by Maliksi and Jose were unfounded.
“We lost the game and he (Maliksi) hurt my player. However, him (Maliksi) making up accusations is very distasteful.”
Still, Ayo and his men are moving forward.
The rookie PBA head coach admitted that Norman Black and Meralco made the right adjustments that led to the win.
Across the board, Meralco and Converge figured in an even heat except for one thing — shooting. The Bolts shot better from the field (54% vs 42%) which proved to be the difference in the tightly-contested affair.
“Meralco was the better team tonight. They played really well,” said Ayo.
Currently, Converge sits in sixth place with a 6-4 record.
And on Sunday, they will face defending champion Ginebra. And Ayo will begin work to prepare for the game tonight.
“I’ll move from this incident and prepare for our next game.”
“That’s the most important thing.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
