OPENING-day games winners Converge and guest team Hong Kong Eastern get the chance to dispute the early lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila.

Gametime is 7:30 p.m.

Both teams got off to a good start with former NBA player Cheick Diallo leading the FiberXers to a 116-87 win over Terrafirma Dyip, and Cameron Clark powering Hong Kong to 102-87 win over Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters in a pair of lopsided matches on opening day last Wednesday.

Now the two teams hope to sustain their momentum and notched their second win.

“More than the win, we look at the process, we look at how we played today. And basing on this, we shot 51 percent from the field. It’s just a good overall game for us,” said Converge coach Franco Atienza, who noted Diallo’s good, all-around game.

Diallo made his presence felt with 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead the FiberXers’victory.

Justin Arana added 16 points, 12 rebounds and four assists Bryan Santos contributed 12 and Mike Nieto had 11.

CJ Catapusan led the Dyip’s losing effort with 13 points and six rebounds while Louie Sangalang, Mark Nonoy and Stanley Pringle added 11 points each.

Import Ryan Richards had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Clark tallied a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Eastern to victory.

Hayden Blankley added 18 points, while Glenn Yang had 11 points for Serbian coach Mensur Bajramovic.

Donovan Smith finished with 33 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenjix.

Jason Perkins added 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and Ricci Rivero chipped in 10 points.

The scores :

First game

Converge (116) — Diallo 25, Arana 16, Santos 12, Nieto 11, Heading 8, Winston 7, Stockton 7, Ambohot 6, Fleming 6, Andrade 5, Racal 5, Fornilos 3, Javillonar 3, Santos 2, Cabagnot 0.
Terrafirma (87) -– Catapusan 13, Sangalang 11, Pringle 11, Nonoy 11, Richards 10, Carino 8, Hernandez 6, Ramos 5, Melecio 4, Paraiso 3, Ferrer 3, Zaldivar 2, Hanapi 2.
Quarterscores: 34-16, 59-42, 86-67, 116-87.

Second game

Eastern (102) – Clark 25, Blankley 18, Yang 13, Cheung 11, Lam 8, Cao 8, Xu 8, Guinchard 5, Leung 3, Chan 3, Sulaiman 0, Pok 0
Phoenix (87) – Smith 33, Perkins 22, Rivero 10, Alejandro 8, Tuffin 4, Garcia 3, Ballungay 2, Manganti 2, Tio 2, Jazul 1, Camacho 0, Daves 0, Ular 0, Muyang 0, Verano 0.
Quarterscores: 23-14, 49-45, 77-65, 102-87.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya