STARTING TO CONVERGE
In a Christmas Day twin-bill featuring an enduring PBA rivalry and a rising league powerhouse, Converge made sure it didn’t fumble its chance to shine.
The FiberXers found gaps in Meralco’s game all Wednesday night and pounced on the Bolts’ manpower woes for a 110-94 victory that gave the telco club a sixth win in eight meetings in the Commissioner’s Cup and a franchise milestone that should be useful as they forge ahead.
“[We’re] just being grateful,” interim coach Franco Atienza said of the triumph fashioned before a thick crowd at the fabled Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
“When you’re grateful, you do your best. When you’re grateful you are ready [for anything]. And this was us being grateful that we’re able to play on a big day like Christmas [so] we can inspire and give glory back to our Creator,” the rookie coach said.
On the shoulders of Jordan Heading, Converge, a young club that played in its first-ever Christmas Day showcase, picked apart a Bolts squad that tried its darndest to hang on even without Raymond Almazan and Brandon Bates and with a crop of stars that were just coming back from injuries.
Heading, a veteran of several Christmas Day games in several other leagues, had 30 points, five rebounds and eight assists, while import Cheick Diallo delivered 24 points and 18 rebounds. No. 1 rookie pick Justine Baltazar turned in his finest game since joining the FiberXers, finishing with 16 and seven as Schonny Winston and Alec Stockton pumped in at least 10 points each.
“I try to approach this game like I approach every game, which is part of being a professional: You have a routine and you try to stick to your routine every single game. Obviously, there’s a little excitement but I’m used to it for as long as I can remember,” the Filipino-Aussie Heading said.
Putting out fires
Converge raced to a 20-6 lead to open the game and then put out one fire after another to build leads of as many as 20 points (94-74) and turn in a streak to match Rain or Shine’s league-best four consecutive wins.
“As we’ve always said, we’re just taking it a game at a time. However cliché it may sound, you’re really just as good as you’re last game,” said Atienza.
“You may argue we’re on a streak now, but that’s really all we can just do at this moment: Putting ourselves in a kind of situation that by the end of the eliminations we are on a good placing.”
No. 5 in sight
“As we do that, we’re knowing ourselves better, we get to know how to play on each other’s strengths,” the Converge mentor added.
Returning import Akil Mitchell had 29 points and 18 rebounds for the Bolts, while Bong Quinto added 23 points—13 of which came in a heroic third period that tested the FiberXers.
Cliff Hodge had 10 points while cornerstone Chris Newsome had a lackluster night of only nine points and five boards as the Philippine Cup titlist absorbed their second-straight setback to slide to 3-2.
Converge will try to annex a fifth straight win against another powerhouse in TNT on Jan. 11. After that, the FiberXers tackle Rain or Shine, Blackwater and then San Miguel to wrap up its elimination round.
