Converge relied on Justin Arana in dealing Macau a 149-124 beating to chalk up their third win in as many games in Group A of the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup preliminaries on Friday evening at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The star center collected his third Player of the Game in a row, as he rewrote his career-high in points with 39 points. He also hauled down 12 rebounds plus three assists to lead his side in turning the game around for good in the third.
He and the FiberXers saw their 26-7 start nearly go to waste when they found themselves trailing in the said period, 83-82. But he and frontcourt partner Justine Baltazar, together with Mikey Williams, joined hands to restore order.
Soon, it was all Converge as the FiberXers cruised to a share of the Group A lead with Jimmy Alapag’s NLEX, with both teams now sporting identical 3-0 records.
(C) PBA Images
“Noong first quarter po ‘yung transition namin, kung titingnan niyo, ‘yun po strength namin. Nawala nung second. Then, good thing after noong huddle nagising po mga bata,” offered head coach Delta Pineda after the bout.
Williams finished with 16 points. Alec Stockton supplied 15 points, with Baltazar coming through with 13 points alongside four rebounds and five assists.
Calvin Abueva also scored 13 points, together with eight rebounds and three assists. MJ Garcia tallied 11, while Juan Gomez de Liano fell just short of a triple-double with 10 points, nine rebounds, and 12 assists in 20 minutes
And for the second straight game, the locals did much of the lifting after Jalen Hudson submitted another underwhelming performance with 12 points on 12 shots and five rebounds — that, after scoring just two versus Terrafirma.
“I think kailangan lang bigyan ng chance, pagkakataon. Sinabi ko nga sa kanya na… Tingin namin, masyado siyang presyurado inside the court. He needs to relax. ‘Yun lang siguro,” said Pineda of the former TNT reinforcement.
The FiberXers will now gear up for a tough three-game stretch ahead, starting with San Miguel on July 22 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
(C) PBA Images
Ramon Cao, meanwhile, had a PBA career-high 41 points and eight rebounds to lead the Giant Pandas, which stayed winless after three games. De’Vondre Perry backstopped the seasoned big man with 35 points and 15 rebounds.
Kobey Lam had 26 points for a team that had to play without Damian Chongqui for the remainder of the game. Chongqui found himself ejected past the midway mark of the second chapter for throwing the ball at referee Albert Nubla.
The diminutive guard — who infamously stormed out of the Ninoy Aquino Stadium during their eventual loss to Terrafirma in the Commissioner’s Cup last May 2 — has since been asked to appear before the Commissioner on Tuesday.
The Scores:
Converge 149 – Arana 39, Williams 16, Stockton 15, Baltazar 13, Abueva 13, Hudson 12, Garcia 11, Gomez de Liano 10, Muyang 8, Concepcion 4, Eguilos 4, Policarpio 2, Santos 2, Tungcab 0.
Macau 124 – Cao 41, Perry 35, Lam 26, Chongqui 6, Chao 6, Y. Zhang 6, Ma 2, Zhang 2, Zhu 0, Liu 0.
Quarterscores: 34-21, 67-61, 109-96, 149-124.
