THERE were long, forlorn looks on the faces of Converge players at the bench midway through the fourth quarter.
It was a nip-and-tuck duel against a Terrafirma side that swore it would not allow the FiberXers to notch their breakthrough win against them.
But Lady Luck finally smiled on Converge as it pulled off a 103-94 overtime victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
The FiberXers outworked the Dyip in extension and banked on a telling 11-2 blitz behind import Jamil Wilson, Justin Arana, and rookie JL Delos Santos that turned an 88-90 deficit to a 99-88 lead on Kevin Racal breakaway layup with 1:42 to go.
Converge held its ground from there after a Juami Tiongson three-pointer pulled Terrafirma to within 94-101 with only 46 ticks left.
Delos Santos, tabbed in the second round at 19th overall in the last pro league draft, boomed in the insurance jumper that pegged the final count as the FiberXers snapped an agonizing six-game losing streak, counting a blowout 95-111 defeat at the hands of the NorthPort Batang Pier Wednesday last week.
The Dyip absorbed their fourth setback in a row that included a 99-110 loss to the defending champion Ginebra Kings 11 days back and fell to 2-5.
“There’s a huge difference from my first game. Chemistry is the biggest thing in basketball and sports in general. When I got here, I was only here for two and a half days and I didn’t even know half of my teammates’ names,” Wilson, who scattered a game-high 32 points, to go with 10 rebounds and five assists, said. “Having a week in practice under my belt like I said before and getting to know what they like to do makes a whole world of difference.
“You can tell tonight just how comfortable we were with certain things we did and how much confidence these guys played with,” added the former Los Angeles Clipper.
Schonny Winston backed up Wilson with 17 markers and six boards, while Arana added 14 and eight for Converge.
FiberXers coach Aldin Ayo refused to get giddy on their maiden triumph in the season-opening tourney.
“We were able to make stops and hit our shots. It was tough, everybody was disappointed and frustrated because of the results of our past games but we just continued preparing and practicing hard,” Ayo said. “Hindi pa ako nabubunutan ng tinik. It’s still a 1-6 record, in way, disappointed pa rin kami, masama pa rin iyong pakiramdam namin.
“But we’re not going to stop. There’s hope. We’re going to continue improving and building his team.”
Converge took a 43-38 edge at the break but Terrafirma grabbed the driver’s seat 63-60 going into the fourth canto.
Javi Gomez de Liaño drained an off-the-glass three-pointer with 4.4 seconds remaining in regulation that forged an 88-all game before the FiberXers’ Mike Nieto missed on a left corner triple try.
Tiongson’s 28 points and five rebounds went for naught for the Dyip. Ditto with the likes of Stephen Holt, and Gomez de Liaño, who finished with 14 and 13 markers, respectively.
Terrafirma reinforcement Thomas de Thaey had 12 points and a game-best 19 caroms despite playing through with a leg injury.
