MANILA – Jerrick Balanza drilled a go-ahead basket as Converge FiberXers pulled off a come-from-behind 113-111 overtime win against San Miguel Beermen in the 2023 PBA on Tour last night at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
With the score tied at 111-all following a triple by FiberXers’ Alec Stockton, Converge got the ball back after Stockton stole the ball from Beermen’s Moala Tautuaa before passing it to Balanza for the marginal layup with 1.9 seconds left.
The Beermen, which went up by as high as 16 points in the third quarter, still had a chance to snatch the victory but Ilonggo Jericho Cruz mishandled the ball while his teammate Allyn Bulanadi misfired a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
Balanza finished the game with 15 points to go with three rebounds, three assists and two steals as the FiberXers snapped a three-game losing skid to improve to 2-3 win-loss slate.
Stockton tallied 23 points and nine assists, Kevin Racal had double-double 16 points and 10 rebounds, Justin Arana and Mike Nieto had 13 points each and Jeron Teng contributed 12 points for Converge, which were without head coach Alvin Ayo in the game.
Cruz top-scored for the Beermen with 41 points, including six three-point conversions, Tautuaa had double-double 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Marvin Lee and Rodney Brondial finished with 13 each. They dropped to 2-4.
In the first game, Terrafirma Dyip fought off a furious comeback attempt by Meralco Bolts in the fourth quarter to escape with a 107-102 victory. The Dyip hiked its record to 3-3, while the Bolts dropped to 3-2.
After being down by as much as nine points in the first half, the Dyip turned things around in the second half as they surged to an 89-77 lead via a three-pointer from Negrense John Paul Calvo and an inside hit from George Isaac Go.
The Bolts answered with a run to take a 95-93 lead on a basket by Clifford Hodge but the Dyip responded with triples from Go and Eric James Camson to take a 103-98 lead before they widened it to 107-102 with inside shots from Camson and Calvo.
Camson finished with 30 points, including four three-point conversion, Juan Miguel Tiongson added 21 markers, while Calvo and Go contributed 12 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Dyip.
BOX SCORE:
CONVERGE 113 – Stockton 23, Racal 16, Balanza 15, Nieto 13, Arana 13, Teng 12, Ebona 9, Zaldivar 5, Luib 5, Mendoza 2, Ambohot 0, Guinto 0.
SAN MIGUEL 111 – Cruz 41, Tautuaa 15, Lee 13, Brondial 13, Bulanadi 9, Faundo 8, Romeo 5, De Vera 3, Baclao 2, Saldua 2, Apacible 0, Lazarte 0.
Quarterscores: 15-24, 32-43, 65-69, 99-99, 113-111./PN
