CONVERGE FiberX leaned on the “Twin Towers” of Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar to bring down gardbslam-seeking TNT,100-94, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo over the weekend.

Arana finished with a double-double of 22 ponts and 11 rebounds, while Baltazar, who earned “Best Player of the Game” honors, added 21points, and 12 rebounds in the FiberXers’ second straight win and a 3-2 win-loss record overall.

Schonny Winston and Alec Stockton added 19 points apiece in the FiberXers’ fitting follow-up to their 111-80 win over the Blackwater Bossing last April 13.

“For a young team like ours, malaking bagay ganitong close game, yung ganitong nasusubok how we fight adversity. At ang ganda na nalusutan namin ito,” said Converge coach Franco Atienza.

“Isa pa, hawig nito yung next game namin. Ito yung team na nag-knock out sa amin last conference. And we look forward to this game,”added Atienza, referring to their game against Rain or Shine Wednesday over at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.

“Naging ready lang kami. Alam namin malakas ang TNT, at kailangan naman takbuhan, kailangan namin maging aggressive,” said Baltazar, who went 7-of-9 from the floor.

Calvin Oftana topscored with 33 points for the Tropang 5G, who suffered their second straight setback.

Roger Pogoy and Rey NAmbatac added 15 and 12points, respectively.

The scores:

Converge (100) — Arana 22, Baltazar 21, Winston 19, Stockton 19, Garcia 6, Racal 5, Suerte 4, Nermal 2, B. Santos 2, Delos Santos 0, R. Santos 0, Ambohot 0, Corpuz 0.
TNT (94) — Oftana 33, Pogoy 15, Nambatac 12, Erram 9, Enciso 9, Williams 8, Khobuntin 5, Aurin 3, Varilla 0, Razon 0.
Quarterscores: 28-16, 53-35, 71-65, 100-94.

Games Wednesday:

(Philsports Arena)
5 p.m. — Converge vs. Rain or Shine
7:30 p.m. — NorthPort vs. Ginebra

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya