“ALL glory to God.”
Those were the first words that Converge interim coach Franco Atienza uttered after his charges pulled off a nail-biting 96-95 upset victory over defending champion TNT last night for their second win in Group A of the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In Group A play today, Meralco takes on winless Terrafirma at 5 o’clock while NLEX and Rain or Shine, both unbeaten with 2-0 marks, clash in Group B at 7:30 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Cage gods looked to have blessed the FiberXers in carving out this triumph after import Scotty Hopson banged in the biggest dagger–a four-pointer in the face of Tropang Giga’s Glenn Khobuntin that pegged the final count in the last 4.0 seconds.
TNT had a chance to avert the huge meltdown but reigning best import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson failed to score on his drive at the buzzer.
“We wanna acknowledge the other team. It was one hell of a good game. Great coach.
They were good out there. Coming into this game and a loss, we just banked on really playing together and playing hard, trying to sustain it, and not being down a lot,” Atienza said. “At some point, we get a chance to win. This is probably the proof of the four-point line.
“Without the four-point line, we were going to overtime, and I don’t know what our chances in overtime will be. So, it’s good we have someone who can shoot that long range shot if it’s available for us,” he added.
Hopson uncorked 32 points–none bigger than the four that turned out to be the first quadruple game-winner in the pro league, that he laced with 10 rebounds and four assists while Schonny Winston provided ample help with 14 markers, seven boards and two dimes.
Justin Arana also had 13 and seven while Kevin Racal and veteran Alex Cabagnot added 12 and 10 points, respectively, as the FiberXers bounced back from a 93-105 loss to the Magnolia Hotshots five days back and rose to 2-1 early in the season-opening tourney.
The Tropang Giga could not sustain their fast start after scoring a 93-73 whipping of the Meralco Bolts Thursday last week and absorbed their first defeat for a 2-1 card.
But not early on after TNT enjoyed a 53-40 edge at the halfway mark.
Working behind Hopson, Racal, and Cabagnot, Converge whittled the deficit to 64-70 going into the final stanza.
After a Cabagnot three-point play that shoved the FiberXers to within 91-92 with 39.2 seconds to go, Hollis-Jefferson scored four straight free throws, giving the Tropang Giga a 95-92 buffer, only 9.6 ticks remaining.
Hollis-Jefferson’s 32-point, 15-rebound game went in vain for TNT while Calvin Oftana was the lone local in double figures with 22 markers and 10 caroms.
