Converge pulled away late to beat a depleted — and deflated — Rain or Shine, 130-118, and move a win away from the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals, Wednesday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The FiberXers heated up in the fourth quarter en route to the 1-0 lead in their best-of-3 quarterfinal series, as they made the Elasto Painters realize how tough things could get without Deon Thompson following a premature exit.
The veteran import fouled out barely four minutes into the third quarter after being called for a landing spot infraction on counterpart Cheick Diallo, leaving his team reduced to an all-Filipino crew although they tried to keep pace.
But they can only do so much, with Converge putting together a 13-4 run behind big men Justin Arana and Diallo toward a 118-108 lead approaching the midway mark of the final frame that put the squad in control the rest of the way.
Head coach Franco Atienza and Co. can close it out in Game 2 on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, which if they do would be the franchise’s first semis trip.
“Whenever you have an import and ‘yung kabila wala, malaking bagay ‘yun. Still, we weren’t able to control that game until later in the fourth,” offered acting head coach Atienza. “It’s a testament to how good the other team is.”
Diallo, without Thompson to worry about, finished with 35 points and 17 rebounds, alongside three assists and three blocks to lead Converge.
Arana, on the other hand, delivered 22 points and eight rebounds off the bench, no longer bothered by the hyper-extended knee he suffered in their final elimination round game last January 24 against San Miguel Beer.
Jordan Heading had 21 points and nine assists. Deschon Winston made 17 points while Alec Stockton supplied 13 points and 10 assists.
Rookie Justine Baltazar added 13 points as well, highlighted by his poster slam on veteran Beau Belga during their fourth-quarter breakaway.
“It’s a good break for us na nawala si Deon, who is really a big presence inside. But again, we have to do better sa Friday. Di na kami kailangan umasa sa ganyan. We just had a break na na-foul out siya,” Atienza said,
Caelan Tiongson led Rain or Shine with a season-high 23 points in the loss that saw the crew of Coach Yeng Guiao squander a 17-point first-quarter lead.
But the champion mentor actually doesn’t mind losing that big of a lead as long as the officiating’s fair, something which in his eyes lacked after seeing Thompson get called for three straight fouls that led to his disqualification.
“Dikit ang laro nun, so magre-remedyo ka na lang after that. Maganda sana ‘yung laban, kaya lang sobrang kaninipis nung mga tawag,” Guiao said.
“Kung ganun ang tatawagan nila, dapat sobrang dami ng fouls na tinatawagan nila–lahat ng ganun tatawagan nila. Kataka-taka at ‘di makatarungan.”
The trio of Anton Asistio, Adrian Nocum, and Thompson had 14 points apiece while Keith Datu and Jhonard Clarito added 12 and 10, respectively.
The Scores:
Converge 130 – Diallo 35, Arana 22, Heading 21, Winston 17, Stockton 13, Baltazar 13, Delos Santos 4, Santos 3, Racal 2, Ambohot 0
Rain or Shine 118 – Tiongson 23, Asistio 14, Nocum 14, Thompson 14, Datu 12, Clarito 10, Ildefonso 9, Caracut 8, Lemetti 6, Belga 5, Santillan 3.
Quarterscores: 26-39, 64-62, 99-96, 130-118.
