FiberXers rip Abueva-less Giant Risers

Games today:

(Ynares Center-Antipolo)

5:15 p.m. — NLEX vs Terrafirma

7:30 p.m. — San Miguel Beer

vs Phoenix

Converge cruised to a 129-92 dismantling of Titan Ultra for a dominating debut in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup Saturday at the Ynares Center-Montalban.

Justin Arana had a monster double-double of 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field and grabbed 22 rebounds to pace the FiberXers, who led from start to finish.

Converge took advantage of the Giant Risers losing Calvin Abueva, who scored 41 points in their opening day win over Meralco last Wednesday, to a hamstring injury in the first quarter to bully its way into a masterful victory.

The FiberXers led by as many as 39 after JR Raflores swished in a triple for a 129-90 advantage with 50 seconds left.

Schonny Winston added 16 points, Juan Gomez de Liaño had a triple-double of 15 points, 11 assists and 10 boards while Justine Baltazar tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds for Converge.

Titan Ultra slipped to a 1-1 win-loss record.

Joshua Munzon was the lone bright spot for the Giant Risers with 31 points on 10-of-17 field goal shooting. Abueva only had two points on 1-of-4 shooting from the field in less than five minutes of play.   

Meanwhile, NLEX will continue to miss bereaving Robert Bolick when it aims for back-to-back wins against Terrafirma today at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Road Warriors management has given the prolific scorer time to grieve the recent passing of his father and is expected to return by next week.

“I think he’ll be back by next week. We should give him some time. He’s very close to his father,” NLEX head coach Jong Uichico said.

“We should give him as much time as we can so that when he comes back, he’ll be in the right mindset.”

In the meantime, Uichico will bank on his wards’ collective effort to pull off another win in the curtain-raiser of the double-header feature slated at 5:15 p.m.

The Road Warriors barely felt the absence of the PBA Season 49 Mythical First Team member when JB Bahio, Brandon Ramirez, Jonnel Policarpio and Kevin Alas filled the scoring role in a narrow 85-84 escape over defending champion San Miguel Beer last Wednesday.

Uichico expects the same from them and the rest of NLEX to get past the Dyip, who suffered an 87-107 beating at the hands of Blackwater last Friday.

New Terrafirma head coach Ronald Tubid hopes for a bounce back to score his first career win as a PBA mentor.

Jerrick Ahanmisi, who went 6-for-9 in the three-point area on his way to a 25-point outing in his first game wearing the Dyip’s colors, Paolo Hernandez and Louie Sangalang will be the focus of the team’s offense.

On the other hand, Don Trollano and the Beermen try to respond positively following an opening day loss in their 7:30 p.m. clash with Phoenix.

Trollano is particularly raring to redeem himself following a mental lapse in the closing moments of San Miguel’s debut loss.

The Beermen had a chance to win the game after Bahio missed his two foul shots but Trollano decided to pass the ball instead of taking a shot as time expired.           

The Fuel Masters are also looking to barge in the win column after a 78-93 dismantling from TNT.