Converge waged a huge rally down the stretch to pull off a thrilling 107-99 victory over NorthPort in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Alec Stockton, Bryan Santos and Schonny Winston conspired, dropping a massive 18-3 spurt in the final minute to regain the lead and seal the win that helped them snap a three-game slump in the season-opening conference.
With the win, the FiberXers are now tied with the Batang Pier at the fourth spot of Group A with a 3-4 win-loss slate.
Converge coach Franco Atienza credited their local stars for stepping up, especially in the payoff period, with import Scotty Hopson struggling.
“In the fourth quarter, we had our resolve,” Atienza said.
“We were not having very good numbers from our import, but our locals stepped up.”
“On the defensive end, we were able to make stops. NorthPort is a very good team, but we were able to grind it out today.”
After trailing by as many as 16 points, the Batang Pier recovered and forged a deadlock at 71 at the end of the third period, setting the stage for a thrilling final canto that could have gone either way.
The Batang Pier were still ahead, 99-95, with 2:08 to go off a split at the line by import Venky Jois, but a triple by Santos made it a one-point game, 98-99.
The FiberXers got a stop when Jois bricked a four-pointer before Stockton put Converge ahead for good, 101-99, and Winston added a layup in their next trip to pad the lead.
Stockton and Santos forced Arvin Tolentino into a turnover, leading to two free throws for Stockton that kept the FiberXers in control.
Tolentino, however, missed his four-point shot with 11 seconds to formally hand Converge the victory.