Maverick Ahanmisi turned in a career-high performance as Converge added to the miseries of a hard-luck Blackwater, 98-90, to punch its ticket to the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals, Thursday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The veteran guard finished with 31 points, 22 of which he unloaded in the third quarter alone to power his side’s 35-point explosion towards a 78-66 advantage entering the final period – enough to seize control of the game for good.
He shot 57-percent from the field that included a 7-of-12 clip from deep, alongside four rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes of play.
“Gotta credit my teammates and coaches for getting me open,” said Ahanmisi. “Everything was just falling in tonight. But, like I said, credit to them — I wouldn’t get those open shots if they weren’t setting good screens for me.”
Jamaal Franklin finished with a conference-low 19 points on 16 shots but still chalked up 15 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Jeron Teng had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Alec Stockton added 10 markers in the victory that saw the squad take care of the ball better as compared to the way they did against NLEX the last time out.
Converge committed 19 turnovers, far from the whopping 31 — 12 from Franklin alone — they had in their 116-112 defeat to the Road Warriors.
“May mag naitama kami. Especially, ‘yung turnovers. Nabawasan ng konti. And yung execution medyo na-refine din ng konti,” said Ayo.
Now at solo third, Converge (6-2) will try to build another streak against the 2-5 Phoenix on Sunday,4:30 p.m., at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Troy Rosario, meanwhile, led Blackwater with 20 points, including 11 in the fourth as he tried to spark a comeback that never was,
Shawn Glover backed him up with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. RK Ilagan added 12 markers for the Bossing, whose playoff hopes are now in tatters after absorbing their eighth loss in nine games.
Blackwater (1-8) is now down to its last two games of the eliminations against NorthPort and Magnolia, respectively.
The Scores:
Converge 98 – Ahanmisi 31, Franklin 19, Teng 17, Stockton 10, Tratter 8, Arana 6, Ebona 3, Balanza 2, Racal 2, Murrell 0.
Blackwater 90 – Rosario 20, Glover 19, Ilagan 12, Amer 8, Banal 7, Hill 6, Torralba 6, Ular 4, McCarthy 3, Casio 3, Taha 2, DiGregorio 0, Suerte 0.
Quarterscores: 21-14, 43-38, 78-66, 98-90.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
