CONVERGE walloped an all-Filipino Titan Ultra, 105-74, on Sunday to open its PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup campaign on a high note at the Ynares Center-Montalban.
Justin Arana and Mikey Williams led the decisive pullaway in the first half that saw the FiberXers dominate a hapless Giant Risers squad that were left without import James Milton for the second successive game.
Milton still has to secure a FIBA clearance.
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Titan Ultra went 0-of-17 from threes in the first half, a PBA record for most three-point attempts without a make in a half, surpassing the 0-of-15 mark of Rain or Shine against TNT in the 2015 Governors’ Cup, according to statistics chief Fidel Mangonon.
Converge led by as many as 36 points in the contest by holding Titan Ultra to a franchise low in scoring in the one-sided game.
“It’s good because ‘yung chemistry ng mga bata compared to last conference, medyo okay naman kami,” Converge coach Delta Pineda said. “Hindi mo masasabing 100 percent pero compared to last conference, okay naman especially [since] we had 38 assists. It means nagkakaroon na ng tiwala sa isa’t isa.”
Jalen Hudson topscored for Converge with 20 points, and Archie Concepcion added 16 points. But it was Arana and Williams who helped the FiberXers dominate the first half with 27 of the team’s 50 points.
Arana finished with 14 points, and Williams had 13 for Converge, which trailed for the only time in the game after Titan Ultra scored the first point.
Fran Yu and Bryan Sajonia led the way with 14 points each for the Giant Risers, who shot just 29 percent from the field.
The scores:
Converge 105 – Hudson 20, Concepcion 16, Arana 14, Williams 13, Clemente 9, Garcia 8, Abueva 6, Baltazar 6, Tungcab 6, Lepalam 5, Gomez de Liano 2, Policarpio 0, Muyang 0, Eguilos 0.
Titan Ultra 74 – Yu 14, Sajonia 14, Caralipio 10, Ular 9, Javillonar 7, Munzon 6, Sumang 6, Cuntapay 4, Omega 2, Ambohot 2, Dionisio 0, Inigo 0, Amores 0.
Quarters: 19-9; 50-36; 78-59; 105-74.
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