FiberXers withstand Dyip rally, stay unbeaten in Governors’ Cup

Converge held off a late surge from Terrafirma to maintain its perfect start in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors’ Cup, escaping with a 105-103 victory on Wednesday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

The FiberXers improved to 2-0 in Group A, although they had to endure a tense finish after seeing a 16-point lead nearly slip away in the closing minutes.

Terrafirma mounted a furious comeback behind Juami Tiongson, whose three-pointer with 1:16 left pulled the Dyip within striking distance at 105-103. The Dyip had one final chance to complete the comeback, but Maverick Ahanmisi’s potential game-winning four-point attempt failed to fall as Converge held on for the narrow victory.

The win also gave the FiberXers some measure of revenge after Terrafirma defeated them in overtime during the previous Commissioner's Cup last March.

"Siguro talagang... kapag kalaban kami ng Terra, ganado po sila," said Converge head coach Delta Pineda.

"We had a 16-point lead, pero nahabol pa rin po. But good thing, nalampasan na ho namin 'yung sumpa with Terra."

Justin Arana led Converge’s balanced attack with 31 points and 10 rebounds, while Juan Gomez de Liaño added 19 points.

Justine Baltazar delivered another strong all-around performance with 16 points and 14 rebounds, including a crucial defensive stop when he blocked Aljon Mariano’s potential game-tying layup with 24.5 seconds remaining.

Archie Concepcion chipped in 13 points, while MJ Garcia provided 12 points off the bench as the FiberXers leaned on their local players after import Jalen Hudson struggled to find his rhythm.

Hudson finished with only two points on 1-of-14 shooting in 26 minutes, but Pineda remained confident that the reinforcement would bounce back.

"Maybe our import namin… hindi makuha rhythm niya for this game. Iyon ang nawawala sa amin, 'yung score ng import namin for this game," Pineda said.

"Bigyan pa ho natin ng pagkakataon. Last game nag-perform naman so maybe this game, nanibago."

Converge will aim to remain unbeaten and join NLEX at the top of Group A when it faces Macau on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Terrafirma, meanwhile, fell to 0-2 despite another impressive performance from import Justin Strings, who erupted for 40 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.

Tiongson added 17 points, while CJ Catapusan contributed 11 for the Dyip, who will look to bounce back against San Miguel on Saturday in Antipolo.