MANILA – Jamaal Franklin had a solid debut as Converge FiberXers cruised to a 130-115 victory over Terrafirma Dyip in the 2022-2023 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Franklin, who was tapped to replace Ethan Rusbatch, tallied 46 points, including seven three-point conversions, to go with 11 rebounds and eight assists. The FiberXers improved to 2-0 in the standings.
Maverick Ahanmisi added 16 markers along with nine rebounds. Jeron Teng and Justin Arana chipped in 15 markers, while Alec Stockton and Abu Tratter ended with 10 markers each for Converge.
Down 68-75 early in the third quarter, the FiberXers leaned on the exploits of Arana, Teng and Franklin to take an 82-80 lead before widening it to 100-92 after the period on conversions by Franklin and Tratter.
Converge continued to pull away in the fourth quarter with outside hits from Ahanmisi and inside attacks by Teng and Franklin as the lead reached its largest at 130-108 on back-to-back triples by Taylor Browne.
Jordan Williams top-scored with 46 points, including eight three-point conversions, Juan Miguel Tiongson and Alex Cabagnot added 18 and 11, respectively, while Kevin Ferrer and Aldrech Ramos had 10 each for the Dyip.
Meralco Bolts, meanwhile, joined the FiberXers in the early lead in the standings following a close 107-102 victory over NorthPort Batang Pier, which dropped to its second straight defeat.
After seeing their double-digit lead turned to a 96-97 deficit, the Bolts regained the lead at 99-97 via a three-point play by Kier John Quinto before widening it to 100-99 on a split free throw by KJ McDaniels.
The Batang Pier made its last push at 99-100 after an inside hit by Marcus Weathers but three free throws and a basket by Chris Newsome followed by freebies by Allein Maliksi sealed the win for the Bolts.
McDaniels finished with double-double 32 points and 22 rebounds, Newsome chipped in 16 markers, Quinto and Clifford Hodge had 15 markers apiece, while Maliksi tallied 14 points for the Bolts.
BOX SCORE:
CONVERGE 130 – Franklin 42, Ahanmisi 16, Arana 15, Teng 15, Stockton 10, Browne 9, Racal 6, Balanza 4, Murrell 3, Tratter 3, Ambohot 0, Ebona 0, Tolomia 0.
TERRAFIRMA 115 – Williams 46, Tiongson 18, Cabagnot 11, Ferrer 10, Ramos 10, Camson 7, Cahilig 3, Gabayni 3, Mina 3, Gomez de Liano 2, Daquioag 0, Calvo 0.
Quarterscores: 36-33, 68-71, 100-92, 130-115./PN
