AFTER two runaway victories, Converge’s resolve was tested by a gritty Magnolia side last night and still found a way to keep its fast start going in the season-ending tourney.
Showing they wanted it more, the FiberXers carved out a pulsating 111-109 squeaker over the Hotshots for their third straight win and the early solo lead in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Import Erik McCree’s three-point play conversion shoved the Hotshots to within 109-111 in the last 30.9 seconds.
Converge reinforcement Jamaal Franklin committed a turnover in the ensuing play that left the door open for Magnolia.
But McCree misfired on a last-gasp triple try at the buzzer as the FiberXers held their ground after building leads as much as 13 points.
Franklin notched 26 points, to go with 13 rebounds and seven assists for Converge, while Maverick Ahanmisi backed him up with 22 markers and five boards.
Alec Stockton, Aljun Melecio, and Jeron Teng also had 18, 14, and 11 points, respectively, for the FiberXers, who scored a big follow up to a 130-115 drubbing of Terrafirma four days ago and rose to 3-0.
Converge coach Aldin Ayo refused to blame his charges for their near meltdown.
“Good thing that we started practicing early for this Governors’ Cup because what we are doing right now, our approach is very general. Kung ano iyong ginagawa naming regular, iyon lang ang ginawa namin (against Magnolia)” Ayo said. “Nothing specific. Wala kaming reference, wala kaming idea kung ano ang gagawin sa kanila.
“We cannot blame the players especially in those two or three possessions na minadali namin iyong mga tira namin pero we cannot blame the players kasi iyon talaga ang sistema namin. We cannot slow down. We’re not going to slow down. We had good looks on those threes, just didn’t go in. Breaks lang ng laro iyon,” he added.
The FiberXers took a 50-47 buffer at the half and held an 83-74 edge heading into the payoff period.
McCree paced the Hotshots with 38 points and 16 rebounds in his pro league debut, while Paul Lee added 21 markers.
