Need for ‘maturity’: San Miguel survives Converge to boost playoff hopes
ANTIPOLO, Philippines – San Miguel head coach Leo Austria encouraged his players to keep their emotions in check as the Beermen barely escaped Converge to boost their playoff hopes in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
San Miguel avoided a third straight loss and claimed solo eighth place by hacking out a 116-113 win over the FiberXers at the Ynares Center on Friday, January 24.
The victory, though, did not come without a major scare after the Beermen nearly squandered a 19-point lead, with technical fouls in the endgame hurting their cause.
Juami Tiongson and Jericho Cruz both incurred technical fouls for bumping Alec Stockton as Converge earned at a shot at sending the game to overtime.
Fortunately for San Miguel, Stockton missed a pair of three-pointers inside the final minute, allowing Austria and the Beermen to breathe a huge sigh of relief.
“Our players are so emotional to the point that we’re getting technical fouls and we should learn from those,” said Austria. “Maturity is something we have to consider to improve our team.”
Import Malik Pope turned in his best game for San Miguel after averaging just 9 points in his first two outings as he put up a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds with 3 blocks.
Tiongson also supplied 22 points on a 6-of-10 clip from three-point land — his steady performance overshadowing a crucial blunder when he received a technical foul for bumping Stockton with over three minutes to play.
Stockton drained a technical free throw to spark a 7-0 spurt that pulled the FiberXers within 113-114 as they turned things around after trailing 81-100 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Free throws by June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez gave the Beermen a three-point edge, which proved enough to secure the win.
“It’s more of the competitive fire, wanting to make the playoffs,” said Tiongson. “I was really just intense and competitive. At the end of the day, Alec and I are friends off the court. It’s just on the court.”
Converge stormed back after Fajardo was forced to sit on the bench for five minutes following a flagrant foul 1 (landing spot) on Diallo with 8:30 minutes remaining.
During the time Fajardo was on the bench, the FiberXers went on an 18-10 run as they trimmed their 89-104 deficit to 107-114.
Fajardo, the reigning eight-time MVP, still delivered 19 points and 14 rebounds, Don Trollano churned out 17 points, and CJ Perez chipped in 11 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds.
Diallo paced Converge with 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordan Heading tallied 25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, with his pair of four-pointers in the fourth quarter fueling the FiberXers’ comeback.
Stockton had 19 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks in the loss, which prevented Converge from taking solo top spot as it fell to 8-4 for fifth place.
The Scores
San Miguel 116 – Pope 22, Tiongson 22, Fajardo 19, Trollano 17, Perez 11, Lassiter 10, Cruz 6, Tautuaa 6, Cahilig 3, Ross 0.
Converge 113 – Diallo 28, Heading 25, Stockton 19, Baltazar 13, Racal 8, Andrade 6, Winston 5, Delos Santos 4, Santos 3, Javillonar 2, Cabagnot 0, Ambohot 0.
Quarters: 29-16, 65-48, 99-81, 116-113.
– Rappler.com