TWO competitive players who both want to win.
It’s how Alec Stockton sees his budding rivalry with Terrence Romeo after the two had another heated confrontation early in the PBA On Tour game between Converge and San Miguel on Sunday night at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
See Terrence Romeo leaves SMB game amid fears of injury setback
Stockton stressed there is nothing personal between the two former Far Eastern University players, just a spur of the moment thing which is all part of the game.
“That’s basketball. We both just want to win really bad and put on a show for the people,” said the feisty two-way Converge guard.
Romeo and Stockton had a heated exchange barely four minutes into the game and the Beermen leading, 6-2. The incident resulted in technical fouls for both players.
The episode brought back memories of a similar jawing incident between Stockton and Romeo during Game Two of the Governors’ Cup quarterfinals pitting the Beermen and the FiberXers.
But Stockton was quick to put conflict behind him as he led Converge back from a 16-point third quarter deficit to overcome San Miguel and Jericho Cruz’s 41-point explosion, 113-111.
The 6-foot-1 Fil-Am finished with a game-high 23 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range, while adding a game-high nine assists and scoring eight in the extra period.
He was also responsible for the FiberXers’ final two plays.
Stockton buried a step-back trey over Moala Tautuaa to tie the game for the last time at 111-all with 20 seconds to play.
And after harassing Tautuaa inside the paint, he assisted Jerrick Balanza for the go-ahead basket on the transition, 113-111, with only 1.5 seconds left.
San Miguel’s Allyn Bulanadi then missed a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer as Converge finally snapped its three game skid.
“It’s all about winning at the end of the day. Jerrick sealed it off with the W and put the layup,” said Stockton of the FiberXers’ final play.
“It’s really making plays down the stretch. We just really wanted to win.”
At the same time, Stockton wished Romeo well as the San Miguel guard failed to play the entire second half after aggravating a hamstring injury.
“I want to wish him well and hopefully, everything’s all right with him,” said Stockton, adding the same thing to coach Aldin Ayo, who missed the game after attending to his ailing mother.
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