Alec Stockton and Justin Arana came up with the second-half heroics, enabling Converge to stun Magnolia, 93-91, Sunday and get back on the winning track in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Stockton scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and Arana 14 of his 24, aside from hooking up for the game’s biggest play that capped the FiberXers’ fightback from as much as 20 points down.
After booming in his lone triple that knotted the count at 91-all, Stockton found Arana inside for an unmolested undergoal stab and put Converge up, 93-91, only 5.6 ticks left.
The FiberXers trimmed the remaining time further down through a foul and a tap-out, leaving the Hotshots just 2.6 seconds to put up at least an equalizer.
Magnolia’s Jerick Ahanmisi, however, missed on a stepback triple try, highlighting the team’s endgame struggled while officially giving Converge a 2-1 slate and a big rebound from a 106-117 loss to Hong Kong Eastern its last time out.
“We just ground it out. That team is a perennial title contender. It’s a champion team laden with talent. We’re lucky to escape this. But the biggest thing there probably is we leveraged on our system,” said FiberXers coach Franco Atienza.
“Winning something like this, it’s like a playoff game. It’s a good win for a young team like us, this is what makes us ballers. Running the system on both ends of the floor, believing in the system even if you’re facing a 20-point lead with what, 16, 18 minutes left?” added Atienza.
“It’s impossible. But the only thing that brought us there is the belief of the players. They just didn’t give up. We’re just happy to get this win.”
“Every game we just want to keep on fighting, keep on giving everything we have. Credit to them, there’s a special team and we just didn’t back down,” said Stockton, who also dished out a game high 10 assists.
Kevin Racal helped Converge stay in the fight and rise from a 45-65 count with all 10 of his points while also doing his part in making up for Cheick Diallo scoring only 10 points on a 4-of-15 clip. The Malian did haul down 16 rebounds.
The loss dropped Magnolia to an even 1-1 record and due largely to its failure to sustain its fine play in the early goings that enabled Converge to steadily crawl its way back into the game.
Ricardo Ratliffe, bothered by a sore right shoulder he injured in the first half, still game highs of 25 points and 19 rebounds while rookie Jerom Lastimosa, mainly responsible for the Hotshots’ surge to a 53-38 halftime spread, had a personal high of 14 points. (PBA)
The Scores :
CONVERGE (93): Arana 24, Stockton 18, Racal 10, Diallo 10, Heading 8, Santos 8, Andrade 5, Winston 5, Nieto 3, Delos Santos 2
MAGNOLIA (91): Ratliffe 25, Lastimosa 14, Sangalang 12, Ahanmisi 12, Lee 10, Lucero 10, Barroca 6, Laput 2, Dela Rosa 0, Dionisio 0
QUARTERS: 22-26, 38-53, 67-75, 93-91