Converge clobbers Blackwater, ends bid on high note

Games today:

(Mall of Asia Arena)

5:15 p.m. — Meralco vs Magnolia

7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs TNT

Converge crushed Blackwater, 136-122, to get the job done in its final game in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Juan Gomez de Liaño led the FiberXers with 25 points as they picked up their fifth win in 12 games and finished in ninth place in the midseason conference.

Head coach Delta Pineda told his boys to go out swinging and continue to play hard even though they are not in the playoff picture anymore.

“I told them to treat it like a do-or-die game and that we still need to work. We might be out of the race but that doesn’t mean we should relax,” Pineda said.

“They still need to fulfill their obligations to the team.”

Two free throws from Calvin Abueva with 7:13 remaining in the fourth period sparked a 14-4 run that made a 100-96 lead into a 114-100 advantage for Converge.

The FiberXers scored 23 easy points off Blackwater’s 22 turnovers and dropped 38 fastbreak points.

Justine Baltazar had a double-double game of 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for Converge while Abueva banged in 15 points.

Robert Upshaw led the Bossing with 41 points and 18 rebounds as they wound up tied with Titan Ultra with similar 2-10 records.

Sedrick Barefield had 20 points for Blackwater while Abu Tratter hit 13 as they were the only locals to reach double digits in the game.