Terrafirma arrested a hijack attempt by Converge, 107-99, for a winning PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup debut, Friday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Stephen Holt, Juami Tiongson, and Gelo Alolino came through with crucial plays to keep the FiberXers at bay after the latter got to within just six thrice inside the final two minutes from a deficit as big as 24 points in the third quarter.
Tiongson finished with 30 points, while Stephen Holt delivered a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds as the backcourt tandem powered the Dyip to a breakthrough win against the franchise after going 0-4 in the past.
“Nagbunga rin, nanalo kami ngayon. First time namin manalo rito sa Converge, so we’re happy about that,” head coach Johnedel Cardel said.
Tiongson scored 11 of his points in the second quarter, leading a 23-6 scoring tear to build a 50-27 advantage that put them ahead the rest of the way.
Holt then stepped up in the second half, making sure that they would remain in the driver’s seat, but the youth-laden opposition fought back.
Converge got going behind Justin Arana and Jerrick Balanza and closed within 101-95 with 1:51 left, but Terrafirma stopped the run when Holt fed Tiongson in a fastbreak situation to push their lead to eight with 39.9 seconds left.
The FiberXers got that close two more times afterward, but Alolino’s free throws plus another Tiongson bucket proved enough to close it out.
“The last two weeks have been our best practices … I feel like we’ve been competing, just getting after it. And, again, the work is always gonna show, and it showed tonight,” said Holt, who also had five steals.
Isaac Go contributed 13 points and five rebounds, while Alolino and Javi Gomez de Liano chipped in 10 points apiece in the victory.
Justin Arana and Alec Stockton, on the other hand, produced 18 points apiece and combined for nine rebounds to lead Converge. Alec Stockton finished with 17 points while Bryan Santos added 14 on four triples in the loss.
Both teams will play again on Sunday, March 3, still at the Big Dome. Terrafirma hits the hardwood first with a meeting against NLEX at 3 p.m., and Converge faces NorthPort after in the 6:15 p.m. nightcap.
The Scores:
Terrafirma 107 – Tiongson 30, Holt 27, Go 13, Gomez de Liano 10, Alolino 10, Sangalang 9, Calvo 6, Ramos 2, Cahilig 0, Camson 0, Mina 0.
Converge 99 – Arana 18, Stockton 18, Winston 17, Santos 14, Fornilos 8, Ambohot 7, Melecio 5, Balanza 5, Zaldivar 3, Maagdenberg 2, Caralipio 2, Nieto 0, Delos Santos 0, Fleming 0.
Quarterscores: 27-21, 56-44, 86-75, 107-99.
