Converge was all business even after pulling off a shocker of a trade on Wednesday as it added to Terrafirma’s woes through a come-from-behind 117-103 win in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the Philsports Arena.
The FiberXers made headlines after sending Jordan Heading to TNT in exchange for Milkey Williams in a straight-up swap, but that hardly affected the youth-laden crew as they handled the Dyip with another character victory.
Deschon Winston and King Caralipio gave them the lead for good at 96-92 with 8:40 remaining in the final frame. Then Justin Arana and Alec Stockton led the pullaway to complete the fightback from a deficit as big as 18 points.
(C) PBA Images
“Right now, the situation is, Jordan is still with Converge. I don’t know the eventuality, kasi that’s above my pay grade,” said interim head coach Franco Atienza regarding the big development. “So, I don’t want to speculate.
“Kung sakaling may ganun man, e ako naman, kung ano ‘yung order sa akin, susundin ko. I mean, kung sinong player ‘yung ilagay, or kung nasa team, we will find the best way how to synergize,” he added.
Caralipio led the way with career-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds as he best exemplified hustle through his sneaky clean-ups of missed shots.
Arana and Stockton finished with 17 points apiece, with the bruising big man adding 10 rebounds to his tally. Rookie Justine Baltazar also wound up with 17 points, which he laced with 10 rebounds and five assists.
Winston added 16 points, including the fallaway jumper that broke the 92-all deadlock with 9:01 left that put his team ahead the rest of the way.
That shot gave Converge renewed spark to finally get away from an upset-hungry Terrafirma. Caralipio, Arana, and ‘Balti’ all strung together a mini run to push their lead to 104-98 with 5:45 to go.
And then came Stockton, before Winston and Arana added on to it to inflate the cushion to 112-100 with 1:40 to go, all but sealing the triumph.
The FiberXers have hiked their card to 6-4 —and go up to fifth in the standings.
“I was happy na we were able to turn it around,” said Atienza. “‘Yung adage na ‘Offense wins games, defense wins championships’? Hindi lang saying iyon, kasi nangyayari iyon. We cannot go with them na makikipag-shootout kami.
“Defense was the key. Kaya for this game, I give credit to the players for just believing,” added the seasoned bench tactician.
(C) PBA Images
But more importantly, they’re virtually assured a spot in the eight-team quarterfinals following the win that eliminated the Dyip from contention.
Terrafirma fell to 1-8 after failing to sustain its solid start into the match, which led to a huge 61-43 lead during the first half — only to blow it up.
Stanley Pringle led the pack with 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists. Louie Sangalang made 18 points while Keith Zaldivar added 17.
The Scores:
Converge 117 – Caralipio 18, Baltazar 17, Stockton 17, Arana 17, Winston 16, Racal 9, Delos Santos 6, Corpuz 5, B.Santos 4, Garcia 4, Suerte 4.
Terrafirma 103 – Pringle 23, Sangalang 18, Zaldivar 17, Nonoy 15, Catapusan 12, Ferrer 11, Ramos 7, Melecio 0, Paraiso 0, Hernandez 0.
Quarterscores: 29-39, 58-65, 88-92, 117-103.
