On point

Games today:

(Ynares Center-Antipolo)

5:15 p.m. — Terrafirma vs Titan Ultra

7:30 p.m. — Blackwater vs Phoenix

Converge formalized its entry to the quarterfinals and a share of the lead at the expense of Magnolia, 114-97, in the resumption of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup action on Friday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.

Alec Stockton, rookie Juan Gomez de Liaño and Justine Baltazar anchored the FiberXers’ third quarter storm to erase a 13-point deficit in the first half for their third win in a row.

Converge improved to a 6-2 win-loss record, tied with idle NLEX and Rain or Shine.

“I talked to the team (during halftime) about the result of the first half. We’re down by eight points. We also looked at the stats and some of our guys didn’t contribute in the first half,” FiberXers coach Delta Pineda said.

“Even our bigs, especially Justin Arana, were well taken care of by Magnolia’s defense. So we decided to just work with broken plays, direct to the post for Arana and if they go double, we gambled on our outside shooting. With God’s help we made our outside shots,” he added.

Juan Gomez de Liaño, who faced brother Javi for the first time, filled the stats box with 27 points on 10-of-15 field goal shooting with seven rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block for the FiberXers.

Baltazar had a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds while Stockton finished with 23 markers for Converge, who outscored the Hotshots, 36-27, in the third quarter to turn the tables around. The FiberXers broke the game wide-open in the fourth with a 36-20 output.

Arana went scoreless in the first half, where Converge trailed 35-48 with under four minutes left in the second period.

Magnolia slipped to a 5-3 card in solo sixth spot.

Zavier Lucero posted 31 points with nine boards, Jerom Lastimosa had 13 while Mark Barroca and Javi Gomez de Liaño added 10 each for the Hotshots.

Meanwhile, the four squads lumbering at the bottom of the standings try to revive their faltering playoffs hopes Saturday at the same Antipolo venue.

Titan Ultra aims to arrest a two-game skid against a far worse Terrafirma, which is on a five-game slide, at 5:15 p.m.

On the other hand, Blackwater wants to stop a six-game bleeding against Phoenix in the main game at 7:30 p.m.

The Giant Risers and Fuel Masters are tied in ninth to 10th with 2-6 cards while the Dyip and the Bossing are knotted at the cellar with just a win under their names after seven outings.

Titan Ultra is coming off back-to-back setbacks at the hands of defending champion San Miguel Beer, 117-158, and NLEX, 83-92, before the long tournament break.

The Giant Risers need to sweep their last three games and hope that five wins would be enough to get them into the next round in the franchise’s inaugural foray in the league.

Terrafirma has a tougher uphill road to trek to get past the elims, needing to play perfect basketball in its last four outings.

Phoenix, reeling from a 93-102 loss to Barangay Ginebra on 16 November, is on the same road to the quarterfinals as Titan Ultra, playing all its remaining games in a must-win situation.

However, the worst in the lot is the predicament of Blackwater.

What started as a promising campaign after a 20-point rout of the Dyip in their season opener turned south for the Bossing, who have not tasted victory in almost two months.