CONVERGE finally breaking into the win column and San Miguel stretching its unbeaten run served as highlights of Sunday’s PBA Philippine Cup twinbill at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
When everyone else counted them out, the FiberXers suddenly came alive and sent the Meralco Bolts crashing with a 104-99 victory.
The stunner meant Converge won’t be ending its campaign winless after losing its first eight games in the conference - and 12th straight overall dating back to the season-opening Commissioner’s Cup.
The Beermen meanwhile, continued to roll by notching win No. 7- a 120-100 demolition of Northport Batang Pier, further stoking their bid of clinching one of two twice-to-beat spots come the playoffs.
Dating back to the Commissioner’s Cup finals, San Miguel actually has now won nine straight games after claiming Games 5 and 6 of the title series against Magnolia.
The takeaways from Sunday night’s all-Filipino Cup doubleheader:
1) Unassuming Bryan Santos is slowly introducing himself to the league after top scoring for the FiberXers’ win over the Bolts behind his 22-point explosion including a 7-of-10 shooting (70 percent) from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-4 forward hit a corner three for the last of his seven three pointers for the night that broke a 97-97 standoff and gave Converge the lead for good in the final 2:58 mark. Santos also had five rebounds in 40 minutes of play as part of the team’s regular starting unit.
2) Conspicious in his absence was big man Raymund Almazan of Meralco. It turned out the veteran center served a one game suspension after a highly-publicized incident in which he was flagged down by the Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation in violation of the use of the EDSA Busway. Losing Almazan couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Bolts, who were battling tooth and nail for a spot in the quarterfinals. Meralco suffered its second straight loss and, at 3-5, fell ino a tie for ninth spot with Blackwater and Phoenix as the team missed the 10.0 point and 5.6 rebound averages of the 6-foot-8 Almazan.
3.After leapfrogging James Yap to No. 4 on the all-time list of most three point shots made, Marcio Lassiter will be eyeing the No. 3 spot currently held by LA Tenorio. The veteran Barangay Ginebra guard has a total of 1,211 but Lassiter is not far behind with 1,197. The two are the only active players in the Top 4 list with retired legends Jimmy Alapag and Allan Caidic occupying the first two slots with 1,250 and 1,242, respectively. The succeeding games in the season-ending meet are certainly a can’t miss shootout between Lassiter and Tenorio.
4. A once-promising campaign appeared to be going down the drain for Northport Batang Pier as they suffered a fourth straight loss following a 20-point blowout at the hands of San Miguel. After surging to a 4-1 record for solo second place just before the All-Star break, Northport fell to 4-5 overall and barely clinging for the final two quarterfinal berths. The Batang Pier will have Terrafirma and Blackwater for its final two outings - two teams which, ironically, are also fighting for a place in the playoffs.
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