Clark Cameron Clark of San Miguel Beer powers his way. PBA photo

Converge, San Miguel win

January 30, 2023 Robert Andaya 318 views

CONVERGE FiberX made it three wins in a row by beating Magnolia, 111-109, in the PBA Governor’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Five players, led by import Jamaal Franklin, scored in double figures for FiberXers, who took the solo lead with their third straight win in tis season-ending tournament featuring imports 6-6 and below.

Franklin, the No. 41 pick overall by the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2013 NBA Draft, flirted with a triple double with 26 points on 5-of-14 shooting on top of 13 rebounds and seven assists in 43 minutes of action

Maverick Ahanmisi came off the bench, to score with 22 points with five rebounds while Alec Stockton added 18 points. Aljun Melecio and Jeron Teng contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the FiberXers.

Converge coach Aldin Ayo said he was satiefied with his players’ performances despite blowing as much as 14-point lead in the face of Magnolia’s comeback.

“We cannot blame the players dahil minadali ‘yung tira. Pero ganu’n talaga sistema namin. We’re not going to slow down,” Ayo told PBA. com in an interview.

“Good thing that we started practices early for this because what we did, our approach, was very genera. Ginagawa namin na regular, iyon ang ginawa na naman natin because wala kaming reference about them, kung ano gagawin namin sa kanila.”

Import Eric Mccree led the fight for Magnolia, finishing with a double-double of 38 points and 16 rebounds in nearly 44 minutes.

Paul Lee added 21 points, Jio Jalalon contributed 13 points and Calvin Abueva had 12 points in the losing effort for the Chicken Timplados.

In the second game, San Miguel Beer completed a wire-to-wire 114-93 victory over Phoenix Super LPG Fuel for a winning start. under debuting coach Jorge Gallent.

Cameron Clark led six players in double figures for San Miguel with 23 points

June Mar Fajardo added 19 points and 13 rebounds, CJ Perez controbuted 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds, new recruit Allyn Bulanadi had 16 points and Marcio Lassiter had 11.

Du’vaughn Maxwell came through with 21 points for the Fuel Masters, who dropped to their third straight setback under coach Jamike Jarin.

The scores:

First game

Converge (111) –Franklin 26, Ahanmisi 22, Stockton 18, Melecio 14, Teng 11, Arana 8, Balanza 6, Tratter 4, Ambohot 2, Racal 0, Murrell 0.
Magnolia (109)– Mccree 38, Lee 21, Jalalon 13, Abueva 12, Escoto 7, Ahanmisi 5, Wong 4, Dela Rosa 3, Sangalang 2, Barroca 2, Dionisio 2, Corpuz 0.
Quarterscores: 28-23, 50-47, 84-73, 111-109.

Second game

San Miguel (114) — Clark 23, Fajardo 19, Perez 18, Bulanadi 16, Enciso 14, Lassiter 11, Tautuaa 9, Cruz 2, Brondial 2, Ross 0
Phoenix (93) — Maxwell 21, Muyang 15, Perkins 12, Serrano 12, Alejandro 9, Jazul 8, Manganti 4, Tio 4, Camacho 2, Soyud 2, Lojera 0, Lalata 0, Go 0
Quarterscores: 42-41, 66-37, 89-68, 114-93.

Games Wednesday:

(Philsports Arena)
3 p.m. — Blackwater vs. San Miguel
5:45 p.m. –TNT vs.NLEX

AUTHOR PROFILE