MUCH has been said about the potential of Converge’s young core, but against an equally determined Terrafirma five, it was the veterans who rose to the occasion yesterday.
Thanks to a big endgame breakaway, the FiberXers overpowered the Dyip 97-84 to get back on track in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Foremost among those who stepped up for the injured Jeron Teng (hip) and Kevin Racal (sprained ankle) were guard Mike DiGregorio, who wound up with 19 points, while playmaker Maverick Ahanmisi chipped in 17 markers, 14 of them coming in the fourth quarter, to go with eight rebounds and eight assists.
David Murrell also added 15 and three, while Justin Arana and Taylor Browne had 10 points each for Converge, which snapped a two-game losing skid, counting a 74-90 loss to Meralco seven days ago, and improved to 2-3.
Terrafirma, coming off a 74-97 defeat to Phoenix last Friday, remained winless in four matches.
FiberXers coach Jeff Cariaso reserved his biggest praises on Ahanmisi and DiGregorio.
“Mav (Ahanmisi) is a vet. He’s one of the guys that we are relying on heavily to carry us with our young core, with our young team, we want him to step up on all aspects not just on the court. I’m not surprised by what Mav did tonight. He’s always game-ready, he’s always focused, he’s a leader off the court also. He’s teaching the guys and talking to the guys a lot,” Cariaso said.
“Mike (DiGregorio) is a guy we can consider as a mid-level vet, not too old, he’s a young vet. We want him to lead us and again his work ethic, how to approach games and obviously performance on the court. So, I think this was one of his best games so far. I think he was more relaxed today and let the game come to him more,” he added.
An Eric Camson three-pointer shoved the Dyip to within 80-81 at the 3:26 mark of the final stanza before Converge uncorked a 16-4 windup capped by a DiGregorio three-point play that pegged the final count, only 22.5 ticks left.
The FiberXers took a 43-42 cushion at the half and led 63-62 heading into the payoff period.
Joseph Gabayni paced Terrafirma with 18 points and seven caroms, while Aldrech Ramos added 15.
Camson, Juami Tiongson, and Joshua Munzon also had 13, 13, and 10 points for the Dyip, respectively.
