MANILA – Converge FiberXers averted disaster to pull off a come-from-behind 106-102 victory over San Miguel Beermen in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
After seeing their once double-digit lead turned to a 100-95 deficit, the FiberXers turned things around with a layup by Aljun Melecio, a triple by Michael Digregorio and inside hit by Justin Arana to take a 102-100 lead.
Converge widened the lead further with back-to-back hits from Quincy Miller and Maverick Ahanmisi for a 106-100 lead before San Miguel Beer cut it to four on a basket by Moala Tautuaa.
Miller flirted with triple-double with 24 points, 16 rebounds and nine blocks to go with three assists and three steals as the FiberXers cruised to its second straight win for a 3-2 slate.
Melecio contributed career-high 18 points to go with seven assists, while Jeron Teng, Digregorio and Ahanmisi contributed 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Converge.
Jaymar Perez top-scored with 29 points, Tautuaa added double-double 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Devon Scott had 16 points and 15 rebounds as the Beermen dropped to 1-3.
In the first game, Bay Area Dragons imposed its dominance on Terrafirma Dyip from start to finish for a 130-76 beating. The Dragons moved up to 6-1, while the Dyip is still win-less in six games.
Andrew Nicholson made his presence felt in the opening quarter as he dropped 19 points for a 35-18 start. The former NBA player added 12 more in the second period as Bay Area cruised to a 67-37 halftime lead.
Bay Area went on with its onslaught in the second half behind Qilong Zheng, Jianhua Song and Songwei Zhu as the lead reached as high as 54 points in the fourth quarter via a layup by Zheng.
Nicholson finished with double-double 37 points and 10 rebounds, Zheng added 17 points as Song and Zhu chipped in 15 and 12 markers, respectively, for the Dragons.
BOX SCORE:
CONVERGE 106 – Miller 24, Melecio 18, Teng 13, DiGregorio 12, Ahanmisi 10, Bulanadi 8, Ilagan 8, Arana 7, Tratter 3, Stockton 3, Hill 0.
SAN MIGUEL 102 – Perez 29, Tautua 21, Scott 16, Lassiter 7, Enciso 6, Herndon 6, Manuel 6, Brondial 3, Ross 0.
Quarterscores: 33-24, 59-48, 86-79, 106-102./PN
