By REYNALD MAGALLON
Alec Stockton and Justin Arana came through with the big plays as Converge shackled Magnolia, 93-91, to get back on the winning track in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, Dec.1.
A huge three-pointer from Stockton and a clutch layup from Arana capped the FiberXers’ comeback from 20 points down to pick up their second win in three games in the mid-season conference.
Arana topscored Converge with 24 points on top of his seven rebounds while Stockton did a little bit of everything with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists – including the crucial dish to Arana for the go ahead basket.
The big games from the two Converge stars came just in time when import Cheick Diallo only had 10 points but made his presence felt on the boards with 15 rebounds.
Kevin Racal also had 10 points while Jordan Heading finished with eight points and seven assists.
Meanwhile, Meralco turned back a pesky Rain or Shine team, 121-111, in a duel between all-Filipino teams.
Chris Newsome set the tone for the Bolts as they led for the most part of the contest even with the premature exit of import Akil Mitchell due to what was suspected to be a broken nose early in the game.
The Gilas Pilipinas mainstay poured 21 of his 25 points in the first half, allowing Meralco to seize control before the rest of the team did just enough to keep ROS at bay in the end and join NorthPort and Eastern in the early lead of the standings.
All three teams are now sporting similar 2-0 records.
Bong Quinto provided support to Newsome with 20 points and so was Jansen Rios who was a spark plug off the bench with 16.
Raymond Almazan and Cliff Hodge manned the paint in the absence of their import with the former posting a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds while the latter had 11 points and 11 rebounds on top of five blocks.
The debuting Rain or Shine played without import Deon Thompson who was not allowed to play as he has yet to secure his work permit.
