Converge proved lucky enough and escaped with a 15-103 decision against the hard-fighting Terrafirma, 105-103, for its second win in as many outings in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
The FiberXers witnessed their 16-point lead become just a field goal with 1:16 left to play behind Juami Tiongson’s triple, as the Dyip pulled off a comeback eerily similar to what they did against NLEX just last Sunday in Montalban.
And just like versus the Road Warriors, they had the final possession of the match in their hands for a chance to go for the kill, but also missed. Maverick Ahanmisi failed to make the potential game-winning four as time expired.
Coach Delta Pineda & Co. then heaved a sigh of relief as they stayed at no. 2 in Group A behind the still-unbeaten NLEX, which owns a 3-0 record.
(C) PBA Images
“Siguro talagang… Kapag kalaban kami ng Terra, ganado po sila,” said Pineda as they lost to the same team in the recent Commissioner’s Cup by way of a 110-100 overtime decision last March 14, also at the faraway Montalban.
“We had a 16-point lead, pero nahabol pa rin po. But good thing, nalampasan na ho namin ‘yung sumpa with Terra,” added the Pampanga vice governor.
Justin Arana top-scored for Converge with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Juan Gomez de Liano back-stopped the star big man with 19 points.
Justine Baltazar notched a double-double of his own with 16 points and 14 rebounds. He also had two blocks, none bigger than his denial on Aljon Mariano when the veteran big man went for the game-tying layup with 24.5 seconds left.
Archie Conception made 13 points, while MJ Garcia added 12 to co-lead the bench mob. The FiberXers leaned heavily on the locals after import Jalen Hudson scored a grand total of two points on 14 attempts in 26 minutes.
“Maybe our import namin… Hindi makuha rhythm niya for this game. Iyon ang nawawala sa amin, ‘yung score ng import namin for this game,” said Pineda.
“Bigyan pa ho natin ng pagkakataon. Last game nag-perform naman, so maybe this game, nanibago,” he added, refusing to give up on Hudson for now.
Converge will try to gain a share of the Group A lead with the Road Warriors when they face Macau this Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
(C) PBA Images
The loss wasted Justin Strings’ effort, as the American wing led Terrafirma with 40 points, alongside 11 rebounds and five assists.
Tiongson had 17, while CJ Catapusan added 11 for the Dyip, who will try to end their two-game skid when they play San Miguel this Saturday in Antipolo.
The Scores:
Converge 105 – Arana 31, Gomez de Liano 19, Baltazar 16, Concepcion 13, Garcia 12, Williams 9, Abueva 3, Hudson 2, Stockton 0, Tungcab 0, Policarpio 0, Muyang 0.
Terrafirma 103 – Strings 40, Tiongson 17, Catapusan 11, Chiu 9, Paraiso 7, Ahanmisi 6, Mariano 6, Bravo 5, Hanapi 2, Umali 0, Miller 0, Eriobu 0, Zaldivar 0.
Quarterscores: 35-36, 59-51, 82-71, 105-103.
