NO Justine Baltazar yet, no problem for Converge.
The FiberXers leaned on Scotty Hopson and a huge third-quarter binge to outclass Terrafirma, 127-95, on Wednesday in the two teams' PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup debut at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Hopson showed he is a perfect fit for the FiberXers from the get-go, scoring 46 points including a perfect 3-of-3 clip from the four-point arc to claim the victory in convincing fashion for a team that won just one game last conference.
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Converge started to build a huge lead by outscoring the Dyip, 47-18, in the third, with Hopson and Alec Stockton joining forces to combine for 25 points in the quarter against a Dyip side led by new recruits Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle.
To cap off the night, Hopson drained a four-point shot before being replaced midway through the fourth quarter of the wire-to-wire win.
The FiberXers' fiery debut also served as a grand welcome for Franco Atienza, who was elevated to head coach with Charles Tiu and Rajko Toroman as first assistant and team consultant, respectively, prior to the season.
Atienza replaced Aldin Ayo.
Converge also claimed the victory without Baltazar, the FiberXers’ No. 1 pick overall in the last PBA Rookie Draft who is still playing out his contract with the Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the MPBL.
Alec Stockton had 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, while Schonny Winston and Justin Arana had 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the FiberXers.
Pringle had 19 points on 2-of-3 shooting from four-point country while Standhardinger had 17 markers in their first game with the Dyip since arriving in a controversial trade with Barangay Ginebra.
“It’s a team effort,” said Atienza. “We give credit to the other team (Terrafirma). They are a good team especially with the addition of the two guys C-Stan and Pringle. They have a good staff out there.”
“I give credit to the guys. I think we defended well. Scoring that much is just an offshoot of how we defended. We really didn’t consciously tried to hit that 100-point mark or score 40-plus points in the third quarter. It’s just that we kept it to a defensive game plan. It just so happened that our shots went in,” Atienza added.
The scores:
Converge 127 – Hopson 46, Stockton 21, Winston 14, Arana 13, Racal 9, Santos 5, Delos Santos 4, Melecio 4, Maagdenberg 3, Andrade 3, Fornilos 2, Nieto 2, Cabagnot 1, Ambohot 0, Caralipio 0, Vigan-Fleming 0.
Terrafirma 95 – Pringle 19, Hester 18, Ferrer 18, Standhardinger 17, Tiongson 5, Ramos 4, Hanapi 2, Hernandez 2, Olivario 0, Cahilig 0.
Quarters: 34-25; 53-49; 100-67; 127-95.
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