WITH nowhere to go, Converge guard Schonny Winston drove hard to the basket and lobbed the ball to import Cheick Diallo, who was not expecting the dime last night.
But turning garbage into gold, Diallo soared and found a way to score off NLEX counterpart Mike Watkins, giving his side the needed separation.
Propped up by big plays in the fourth quarter, the FiberXers hammered out a 102-91 victory over the Road Warriors to get back on track in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Ginebra tries to rediscover its winning ways when it takes on winless Terrafirma while Rain or Shine battles Magnolia today at the same venue.
The hulking 6-foot-8 Diallo’s layup made it a 100-90 game with 2:01 to go, with his teammates rejoicing from the bench, raising their arms and exchanging high-fives.
Converge interim coach Franco Atienza pointed to his charges’ desire to rebound from a 101-108 loss to NorthPort Thursday last week that spelled the big difference in jacking their mark to 3-2.
“We’re coming off a loss and it left a bitter taste in our mouth. We just wanted to go back to what we were doing right and review what we could improve. It just so happened that we were able to play together defensively,” Atienza said. “Of course, we ran our system on offense. It’s really nice.
“We had five guys almost all in double digits. It’s a good bounce-back game also for CD (Diallo). He proved his worth. But we’re least worried about his numbers,” he added.
NLEX absorbed its second straight defeat, counting a 100-109 setback at the hands of the Kings Wednesday last week and fell to 3-3 in the mid-season tourney.
Diallo uncorked a game-high 37 points laced with 18 rebounds while Alec Stockton shone for the locals with 16 markers, five boards, and four assists.
Jordan Heading also had 14 points built on two three-pointers, four caroms, and 11 feeds while King Caralipio banged in a pair of triples and finished with 10 for Converge.
Atienza’s quintet came out with guns blazing and led by as much as 30-18 early on before settling for a 52-44 edge at the half.
The Road Warriors banked on the duo of Bolick and Watkins and closed in at 72-77 going into the final 12 minutes.
But the FiberXers outplayed NLEX in the final canto behind Diallo and Stockton to frustrate the Road Warriors.
Watkins totaled 36 points and 23 rebounds for NLEX while Bolick added 26 markers and six assists.
The key now for the young Converge franchise is consistency in the 12-game eliminations—if the FiberXers want to surpass their surprising quarterfinals stint in the last conference.
