MANILA – Converge FiberXers thwarted TNT Tropang Giga’s late run to score a 107-103 stunner to close its PBA Philippine Cup campaign on Wednesday night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Leading by as much as 16 points at 98-82 with six minutes left in the game, the FiberXers were surprised by the huge Tropang Giga uprising that cut their lead to 102-99 with over two minutes left.
After misses from the Tropang Giga side, the FiberXers managed to widen the lead to 104-99 on a basket by Deschon Winston before the secured the victory with three free throws.
Aljun Melecio led the way for the FiberXers with 17 points, including four three-point conversions, while Bryan Santos and Justin Arana contributed 15 markers apiece as they ended the season with 2-9 win-loss slate.
King Caralipio and Winston finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively, and Patrick Maagdenberg contributed a career-high of 12 points, with eight coming in the fourth quarter, for Converge.
FiberXers head coach Aldin Ayo praised his second unit players for stepping up after most of his players from the first unit were saddled with foul trouble almost the entire game.
“To sum up the game, our second group won it for us,” Ayo said in a post-game interview. “I have been challenging our second group to play harder than our first group.”
“Lots of our second unit players reached double-digits in scoring, but more than the score, their defense against the smaller player of Talk N Text were also efficient,” he added.
Calvin Oftana led the way with a double-double of 33 points and 12 rebounds, Roger Pogoy added 29 markers, while Kim Aurin and Glenn Khobuntin had 13 and 11, respectively, for the Tropang Giga.
The defeat, which dropped the Tropang Giga to a 5-5 win-loss slate, has put a dent on their twice-to-beat hopes in the quarterfinals. They will close out the elimination round against Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots on Sunday./PN
BOX SCORE:
CONVERGE 107 – Melecio 17, Santos 15, Arana 15, Caralipio 14, Winston 13, Maagdenberg 12, Fornillos 8, Delos Santos 7, Stockton 4, Andrade 2, Nieto 0.
TNT 103 – Oftana 33, Pogoy 29, Aurin 13, Khobuntin 11, Ponferrada 7, Castro 4, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Ebona 2, Varilla 2, Galinato 0, Montalbo 0, Reyes 0.
Quarterscores: 31-31, 57-52, 83-77, 107-103.
