Schonny Winston and the Converge FiberXers held off a furious second-half rally by the San Miguel Beermen to escape with a thrilling 100-97 victory, keeping their slim hopes for a twice-to-beat advantage alive in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup on Wednesday evening at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
CJ Perez buried a rare four-point play to give the Beermen a 93-89 lead with 3:28 remaining, but Winston sparked a pivotal 8-0 run that not only reclaimed the lead for Converge but also snapped San Miguel’s four-game winning streak.
Now at 7-4, Converge must hope for a perfect storm to force a rare five-way tie for third place — requiring a TNT win over Magnolia, a Rain or Shine upset of Ginebra, and a NorthPort stunner against San Miguel.
All five teams would finish with identical 7-4 records if that scenario unfolds.
While point differentials will come into play in determining the final seedings — and several key matchups are still to be played — San Miguel, Magnolia, and Ginebra currently stand to gain the twice-to-beat incentive.
Meanwhile, Rain or Shine and TNT would need lopsided victories to tilt the quotient in their favor.
(C) PBA Images
“It was a tough game. It was a very tough game. Alam naman natin na perennial title contender ang SMB. With the performance that they have during this conference, it’s a tall order. Malaking bagay yung depensa namin, pero we know that San Miguel is too good of a team para i-hold mo buong game, so we were ready for that comeback,” FiberXers head coach Franco Atienza said.
Winston took matters into his own hands late in the game, drilling a clutch triple followed by a pull-up jumper to give Converge a narrow 94-93 edge.
He then received much-needed support, as JL De Los Santos knocked down a corner three, and King Caralipio added an inside basket to cap the 8-0 run, extending their lead to 99-93 with 1:02 left.
San Miguel had one final surge in them. Don Trollano nailed a crucial four-point play, and the defense forced Winston into a tough mid-range jumper.
But with the game on the line, the Beermen faltered — a 24-second shot clock violation on Marcio Lassiter, who failed to release a floater in time that could have tied the game at 99-all.
The window was still open for San Miguel as De Los Santos split his charities to make it a 100-97 contest. However, Perez missed the potential game-tying triple in an attempt to send the match into overtime.
Arana stood tall with 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting with three assists and two rebounds, while De Los Santos finished with 13 points and three rebounds.
Justine Baltazar was limited to seven points on 2-of-9 shooting but contributed 12 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. Alec Stockton also only produced seven points but chipped in six rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block.
(C) PBA Images
In a game with major playoff implications, the FiberXers also dropped the Beermen to a must-win scenario against the Batang Pier to lock in the top seed come Sunday, June 15, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
A win by SMB on Sunday would tie them with NLEX at 8-3, but the Beermen would secure the first seed as they hold the tiebreaker after defeating the Road Warriors earlier in the conference.
Fajardo paced the Beermen with a near triple-double outing of 17 points, 23 rebounds, and seven assists to go along with one steal and one block. Meanwhile, Perez scattered 17 points on a poor 7-of-23 shooting clip but contributed four rebounds and four assists.
Mo Tautuaa’s breakout game went for naught after producing 14 points, six rebounds, and one steal. Juami Tiongson provided 13 points on 3-of-6 from beyond the arc with three rebounds and three assists.
The Scores:
Converge 100 – Winston 25, Arana 21, Delos Santos 13, Stockton 7, Baltazar 7, R. Santos 6, B.Santos 6, Garcia 5, Racal 3, Caralipio 2, Corpuz 0
San Miguel 97 – Fajardo 17, Perez 17, Tautuaa 14, Tiongson 13, Rosales 11, Cruz 8, Teng 4, Trollano 4, Lassiter 3, Cahilig 3, Brondial 3, Ross 0
Quarterscores: 19-12, 53-37, 70-68, 100-97
