ANTIPOLO - Juami Tiongson delivered his best performance in a San Miguel uniform as the Beermen overcame a late Converge rally to pick up a critical 116-113 win on Friday in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner's Cup at the Ynares Center.
Tiongson scored 22 points for the Beermen, who barely held on in the face of a fiery Converge fightback from a 19-point deficit to stay in the playoff picture at eighth place with a 5-6 win-loss card.
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Tiongson also came away with a crucial steal that led to a free throw by CJ Perez with 20 seconds left and a 116-113 lead, which held until the end as Bryan Santos missed a four-point attempt at the buzzer.
The former Terrafirma guard sparked the Beermen’s offense by scoring 12 points in SMB's 65-point first half - their highest offensive outing in the first two quarters - on their way to snapping a two-game losing streak.
“This is the first time na we had a good start since nung game namin against Magnolia,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
Tiongson went 6-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc even after he had a verbal altercation with Alec Stockton at the final 3:10-mark of the game.
June Mar Fajardo had 19 points and 14 rebounds despite being called for a flagrant foul penalty one against Chieck Diallo with 8:30 left in the game that forced him to sit out for five minutes.
It was during Fajardo's absence where Converge made the comeback with Jordan Heading nailing two four-pointers including one with 2:08 left to cut the deficit to 114-111. Diallo's hook shot made it a one-point game.
After two unimpressive games, Malik Pope also bounced back by finishing with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks for the Beermen.
Diallo had 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Heading had 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists for Converge, which now awaits to know where it landed in the seedings at the end of its elimination round.
The scores:
San Miguel 116 – Tiongson 22, Pope 22, Fajardo 19, Trollano 17, Perez 11, Lassiter 10, Tautuaa 6, Cruz 6, Cahilig 3, Ross 0.
Converge 113 – Diallo 28, Heading 25, Stockton 19, Baltazar 13, Racal 8, Andrade 6, Winston 5, Delos Santos 4, Santos 3, Javillonar 2, Ambohot 0, Cabagnot 0.
Quarters: 29-16; 65-48; 99-81; 116-113.
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