CONVERGE’S young guns outran the veterans of NLEX and were fittingly rewarded last night.
With their upstart players spearheading the charge, the FiberXers tripped the Road Warriors 112-108 for their third win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
David Murrell shone against his former team with 21 points and three rebounds, while Tyrus Hill wound up with 18 markers, seven boards, and three assists for Converge.
Taylor Browne boomed in 15 points, all from deep, while Justin Arana and Maverick Ahanmisi also had 11 and 10, respectively, as the FiberXers redeemed themselves from two straight losses, including an 89-105 drubbing at the hands of Ginebra seven days ago, and improved to 3-5, good for a spot in the top eight.
NLEX, coming off a 73-87 defeat to Magnolia last Saturday, slipped to 4-4 for seventh.
Converge coach Jeff Cariaso, whose charges scored 22 fastbreak points against the Road Warriors’ measly two, was pleased they were able to turn their attempts to points.
“What’s new about our team now is we really did get more athletic so that’s really nice and fun to watch. It’s hard to do because we’re in the PBA, we’re in a pro league. So, it’s hard to do, get up there and go up and down but with the opportunity that we did have, I think the guys ran well and they finished,” Cariaso said.
“That was one of the things that we put into a test and questioned the last couple of games — being able to finish baskets, finish around the rim, make our layups, make open shots. I don’t think we shot extremely well tonight but I think it was a lot better than before,” he added.
Converge took a 46-38 lead at the half but NLEX battled back behind the hot hands of Kevin Alas, Kris Rosales, and Don Trollano and trimmed the deficit to 76-77 heading into the payoff period.
The FiberXers uncorked a 12-0 blitz punctuated by an RK Ilagan triple that gave them an 86-76 spread at the 9:41 mark of the final canto.
Browne’s final trey padded Converge’s advantage to as much as 98-82 with 5:06 to go, before the FiberXers thwarted the Road Warriors’ comeback try.
Rosales paced NLEX with 29 points on seven treys, while Alas and Trollano added 23 and 18, respectively. Justin Chua and Calvin Oftana also had 15 and 12 points, respectively.
