CONVERGE secured an outright quarterfinals berth, while Rain or Shine came close of doing the same as both team notched contrasting wins in the PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday night.
The FiberXers needed to rally past Terrafirma Dyip, 117-103, to notch their sixth win in 10 outings to join Magnolia, San Miguel and NLEX into the playoffs.
The Elasto Painters on the other hand, scored a wire-to-wire 109-99 win over the Phoenix Fuel Masters to raise their record at 5-3 and on the verge of earning a seat in the quarterfinals.
READ: Adrian Nocum erupts for 30 points as Rain or Shine rips Phoenix
At 1-8 after suffering their eight straight loss, the Dyip formally bowed out of playoff contention, even as the Fuel Masters also moved on the verge of elimination with their 2-6 record.
Below are three takeaways by the end of Wednesday night’s doubleheader at the venue formerly known as Ultra.
1.SIX IS MAGIC NUMBER TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS
The loss by Terrafirma officially made six wins as meal ticket to the playoffs, paving the way for free passages to both idle San Miguel (6-2) and NLEX (6-2) as the two squads joined Magnolia and Converge as the four teams in the quarterfinals so far.
Rain or Shine (5-3), Barangay Ginebra (5-2), and defending champion Meralco (5-5) are each a win away from following suit.
Three teams at the lower half of the standings in Phoenix (2-6), Northport (1-6), and Blackwater (1-7) need to sweep all of their remaining games to have a shot of advancing in the next round of the season-ending tournament as TNT (4-3) isn't too far off from it.
2.TWO YOUNG GUNS SCORE CAREER-HIGHS
Sophomore players Adrian Nocum and King Caralipio both had scoring career highs in separate victories by Rain or Shine and Converge. Caralipio, the former NCAA Finals MVP from Letran and a fourth round pick by the FiberXers had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds.
He had eight in the pivotal fourth when Converge finally took control of a game it once trailed by as many as 18 points. King was a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point range.
Nocum meanwhile, was on fire for the entire game against the Fuel Masters, scoring 15 in each half to finish with 30. He was 10-of-20 from the field and grabbed five rebounds. Both Nocum and Caralipio emerged as Best Players of the Game.
3.FITTING SENDOFF FOR JORDAN HEADING
Short the stint of Heading was with Converge, but the FiberXers went out of their way to make sure the rookie guard had a decent exit with the franchise.
READ: Heading learns about trade straight from Converge owner Dennis Uy
The Fil-Australian gunner still joined the team on the sidelines of the match against the Dyip despite being told a few hours before gametime about his trade to TNT for Fil-Am Mikey Williams.
For a while the FiberXers appeared on the verge of being upset by the Dyip until Alec Stockton, Justin Baltazar, Justin Arana, and Caralipio righted the ship in the fourth quarter to pull off the come-from-behind win.
At the dugout, Heading bade goodbye to the FiberXers who he played for one conference and a half.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
