ANTIPOLO – Converge dealt grand slam-seeking TNT a second straight loss in the PBA Philippine Cup, scoring a wire-to-wire 100-94 win on Sunday night at the Ynares Center.
The FiberXers went on a scoring tear in the opening half and limited the Tropang 5G to 30 percent shooting to establish a lead of as much as 22 points before thwarting repeated rallies by TNT the rest of the way.
It was the second straight win for Converge, now at 3-2, which got huge numbers from Justin Arana with 22 points and 11 rebounds and frontcourt partner Justine Baltazar with a season-high 21 and 12 boards.
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Alec Stockton and Deschon Winston also delivered for the FiberXers with 19 points each.
TNT fell to a 0-2 start in the season-ending conference after a dominant season so far that had the franchise winning back-to-back championships in the Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup.
Despite the seeming dominant win, Converge coach Franco Atienza said it wasn’t easy putting down the two-time champions.
“We give credit to a champion team. Talagang pinahirapan nila kami,” he said. “We know TNT is a good team. I know deep in my heart na even without RHJ (Rondae Hollis-Jefferson), yung DNA nila, winning team.”
Calvin Oftana topscored for TNT with a game-high 33 points as he went 5-of-8 from the three-point range and tried to spark a second half rally by the Tropang 5G along with Roger Pogoy, JP Erram, and Rey Nambatac.
The Tropang 5G trimmed the deficit down to 65-69, but the FiberXers countered with a 7-2 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to make it a 76-67 lead on a dunk by Arana.
Pogoy added 15 while Nambatac had 12, although the Commissioner's Cup Finals MVP was held to a 4-of-13 shooting.
Erram grabbed 11 rebounds and nine points for TNT, which also lost its first two games of the Commissioner’s Cup, but still ended up winning the championship after beating Barangay Ginebra in the finals.
The scores
Converge (100) - Arana 22, Baltazar 21, Winston 19, Stockton 19, Garcia 6, Racal 5, Suerte 4, Nermal 2, Santos 2, Delos Santos 0, Santos 0, AMbohot 0, Corpuz 0.
TNT (94) - Oftana 33, Pogoy 15, Nambatac 12, Erram 9, Enciso 9, Williams 8, Khobuntin 5, Aurin 3, Varilla 0, Razon 0.
Quarterscores: 28-16; 53-35; 71-65; 100-94.
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