CONVERGE bucked an early foul trouble of Quincy Miller and injury to Justin Arana on Sunday to escape from the jaws of defeat from Blackwater, 77-71, in Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Sports a center in Antipolo City.
Tied at 68-all less than three minutes left in the game, Miller and Alec Stockton joined forces down the stretch to unleash a blazing 9-3 run and help the FiberXers sustain a four-game winning streak en route to a 5-2 win-loss record.
“We started flat due to fatigue, I think,” Converge coach Aldin Ayo said. “I was expecting that we were able to recover from that one-day rest. But I think they haven’t recovered yet. Our legs were heavy.”
Miller, despite getting his fifth foul with 2:22 left in the third quarter, still finished the game with 22 points and 19 bounds plus four blocks. He scored on a dunk that gave Converge a safe 74-68 cushion with 55 ticks left and Blackwater couldn’t overcome that deficit.
Stockton added a career-high 15 points and eight rebounds, while center Abu Tratter had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the FiberXers, who are coming off a huge 130-117 franchise win over TNT last Friday.
“It is just being ready whenever your number is called. It is the same for everyone else on the bench. Whoever is the floor, you have to be ready,” Stockton said.
Aljun Melecio struggled on 1-of-15 shooting from the field for three points — a far cry to his 20 points production last Friday against the Tropang Giga.
Justin Arana finished with eight points and nine rebounds before leaving the game with 20 seconds left in the third quarter because of a suspected hamstring injury. Jeron Teng also contributed eight points for FiberXers.
The Elite had a chance to steal the win, but couldn’t take advantage of Miller’s early foul trouble to fall to a 3-5 win-loss record — their second straight loss.
Cameron Krutwig scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Blackwater.
Despite the foul trouble, Converge out-rebounded Blackwater, 74-51, to tally more second-chance points, 23-10.
In the second game, Phoenix Super LPG upset TNT Tropang Giga, 91-88, to extend its five-game winning streak after a terrible 0-3 start.
Kaleb Avery Wesson tallied 23 points, 17 rebounds, four steals, three assists, and three blocks while rookie Encho Serrano sparked Phoenix’s offense with 16 points and Javi Mocon had 13 points to lead the Fuel Masters.
Phoenix improved to 5-3 record while TNT dropped to 3-4.