Only one word was enough for Juan Gomez de Liano to describe how he felt after his maiden PBA conference came to a heartbreaking end on Sunday night.
Even as he tried to remain composed in front of the press, the lefty guard couldn’t hide how heartbroken he was after the twice-to-beat Converge bowed to Ginebra in their do-or-die affair in the Season 50 Philippine Cup quarterfinals.
“Bitin,” he said shortly after their 99-98 defeat at the SMART Araneta Coliseum as he encapsulated his first rodeo in the league. “I didn’t get the job done.”
Gomez de Liano himself knew of the young franchise’s history, and he appeared to be the curse breaker it had long been praying for after submitting one of his best showings of the tilt with 25 points and five rebounds in the rubber match.
He was also responsible for lifting the FiberXers to a 95-89 lead after knocking down a crucial four-point shot with 1:39 to play, putting themselves in a prime position to take down one of the league’s traditional contenders.
“He told me to stay composed, he told me to get my rhythm, get my shots, and I was able to do so in this game,” said the former overseas import, referring to the conversation he had with head coach Delta Pineda prior to the game.
But the Barangay had an ace up its sleeve, which Converge doesn’t have just yet: experience. Slowly, they chipped away the deficit behind RJ Abarrientos and Troy Rosario, setting up the dramatic finish courtesy of Stephen Holt.
The 2023 no. 1 overall pick beat the final buzzer with a booming trifecta, and the Big Dome flooring would become a canvas that painted agony and victory both at the same time as Ginebra celebrated while the other was left devastated.
“That ball went straight in, no? And Stephen only had like six points prior to that shot. He was like 1-for-7 (from three) and made the most crucial shot of the game,” Gomez de Liano reflected. “Yeah… That’s a tough one, for sure.”
(C) PBA Images
Asked what went wrong, the University of the Philippines product could only rue the ‘unnecessary mistakes’ they committed that doomed their chances.
Although he didn’t go into specifics, MJ Garcia and Alec Stockton committed fouls against RJ Abarrientos inside the final 1:32, which the latter took advantage of and enabled the Kings to chip away at the six-point gap.
The crew also committed a lapse on defense during the closing moments, when Archie Concepcion overcommitted on doubling Stephen Holt and allowed Rosario to get enough space for a trey to cut the gap to 97-96 with 20.6 left.
Balti Baltazar had the opportunity to at least give themselves some room to breathe with a trip to the line with 8.5 seconds left, but muffed his freebies.
“I feel like we just had unnecessary mistakes that could’ve been avoided, honestly,” said Gomez de Liano, who went 7-for-7 from the stripe.
But even the 26-year-old didn’t spare himself from criticism, believing that he could’ve done more in trying to help his team get over the hump.
Converge, since joining the PBA in 2022, has yet to get past the quarters, but their most recent ouster could be the toughest yet as they blew a twice-to-beat advantage–an incentive they earned after finishing the eliminations at no. 4.
“My main goal was to help the team get past the first round. I feel like ever since Converge joined the PBA, they have had a difficult time going past the quarterfinals. Now we had the best chance, especially since we had a twice-to-beat,” he said.
“Sobrang bitin for me. Individually, I feel like I could’ve done more. And as I said, I’m here to win a championship, and we fell short, so that’s on me.”
Nonetheless, Gomez de Liano remained proud of their conference as a whole, and chose to stay optimistic as he and the FiberXers are charging this campaign–especially Sunday night’s loss–to experience.
“We’re very optimistic, especially heading towards the next conference,” he said. “We have a great group of guys, the whole management, the organization.
“It’s something to be proud of, especially how far we’ve come at this conference. For sure, it will be a great learning lesson for u,s and it’s gonna make us stronger as a team.”
#WATCH: HEARTBREAKER
Despite the loss to Ginebra, Juan Gomez de Liano is carrying the lessons he learned from the series into Converge’s upcoming conferences 🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/vRel0ijase
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA50 pic.twitter.com/eihTPvs1pc
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) December 28, 2025
