CONVERGE turned blue-chip TNT Tropang Giga into a dud via a 130-117 beating as the FiberXers continued to send a strong message with their third consecutive win Friday in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The FiberXers steamrollered the Tropang Giga in the first two quarters and never cooled down to cruise to their fourth win in six games, while dealing their victims their third loss also in six outings.
“I think as we go further in this conference, as players, we’re still learning [and improving] coach Aldin’s [Ayo] system,” said Jeron Teng, who had 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Converge. “But we’re embracing the system and all players are ready to contribute anytime.”
“We just have to execute it very well,” he added.
The FiberXers literally jumped the gun on the Tropang Giga and established control in the first quarter, 43-24 and looked headed toward an easy night, 73-47, at the half.
They led by as many as 35 points, 91-56, against a TNT side that was in disarray. And although coach Chot Reyes’s wards tried to mount several rallies, they could create stops and the best they could muster was to trim their deficit to 113-91 and 128-115, in garbage time.
Converge import Quincy Miller put up big numbers of 38 points—12 in the opening quarter—20 rebounds and five assists, while Aljun Melecio added 20 points and Justin Arana tallied a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The FiberXers set season highs for both the league and franchise—their 43 points in the first quarter and 73 points in the second period.
Ayo, however, saw a crack when the team relaxed in the fourth quarter.
“We have a tendency to divert from our game plan and relax every time we have big leads—that’s what we need to address,” Ayo said. “But I think slowly we are absorbing already what we have to do.”
Cameron Oliver posted 41 points and 11 rebounds and Mikey Williams had 27 points for the Tropang Giga.
Image credits: Rudy Esperas