CONVERGE FiberX survived a gallant stand by Meralco Bolts to eke out a 106-99 victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Quincy Miller and Maverick Ahanmisi saved the day for the FiberXers, who squandered a 20-point lead at halftime but held on to beat the Bolts.

Miller led the FiberXers’ balanced attack with 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting on top of 16 rebounds, five assists, five steals and three blocks for coach Aldin Ayo.

Ahanmisi scored 12 of his season-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and went 5-of-9 in three-point shooting.

Allyn Bulanadi contributed 12 points, Jeron Teng added 11 and RK Ilagan had 10.

Johnny O’Bryant finished with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting in 33 minutes of action for the Bolts, who dropped to 1-2.

O’ Bryant also had 15 rebounds for coach Norman Black.

Aaron Black finished with 18 points but went scoreless in the fourth period for Meralco.

Anjo Caram and Allein Maliksi contributed 14 points each.

The Bolts battled back in the third quarter as they outscored the FiberXers, 34-19, to trim a 20-point deficit into five, 82-87.

The Bolts even took at 91-90 lead courtesy of Bong Quinto’s three pointer with 7:30 remaining. O’Bryant extended the upperhand to three 93-90 with 5:34 remaining.

But Ahamisi tied the score at 93-all. After O’Bryant hit a two-pointer to give the Bolts a 95-93 lead, Ahanmisi again nailed a three-pointer to make it 96-95 with 4:31 remaining.

“It feels good especially coming from two consecutive losses and with the way we showed character. We lost a 22-point lead but we’re able to recover,” said Converge coach Aldin Ayo, who celebrated his 45th birthday Saturday.

The scores:

Converge (106) — Miller 29, Ahanmisi 21, Bulanadi 12, Teng 11, Ilagan 10, Tratter 9, Melecio 8, Stockton 4, Racal 2, Ambohot 0.
Meralco (99) — O’Bryant 27, Black 18, Maliksi 14, Caram 14, Quinto 12, Hodge 10, Pasaol 4, Johnson 0, Almazan 0, Jose 0, Pascual 0.
Quarterscores: 35-26, 68-48, 87-82, 106-99.

Games Sunday:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
4:30 p.m. — Bay Area vs. San Miguel
6:45 p.m. — Magnolia vs NorthPort