MANILA, Philippines, December 2 ------ Alec Stockton took over down the stretch for the Converge FiberXers as they completed a thrilling 93-91 come-from-behind escape over the Magnolia Hotshots in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, December 1. In an all-Filipino battle between Meralco and Rain or Shine, the Bolts emerged triumphant, 121-111.
With Converge still staring at an 88-91 deficit after being down by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, Stockton took matters into his own hands and pulled up for a cold-blooded triple to tie things up at 91-all with just 43 seconds to play. A miss by Zavier Lucero in the following possession then led to another clutch play by Stockton, where he found a wide-open Justin Arana inside for the go-ahead basket and their first taste of the lead since the opening frame, 93-91, with only 5 ticks left. Magnolia still had an opportunity to win it all in the final sequence, but Jerrick Ahanmisi failed to connect on his potential game-winning trey at the buzzer.
Stockton flirted with a triple-double of 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists, while Arana topped the scoring column for the FiberXers with 24 points on a healthy 9-of-12 shooting, as they scored a quick bounce-back win after a 117-106 loss to Hong Kong Eastern two days ago. Despite a rough shooting night, Converge import Cheick Diallo still ended up with a double-double of 10 points on 4-of-15 field goal clip and 16 rebounds to help the FiberXers improve their record to 2-1.
Magnolia import Ricardo Ratliffe — who likewise struggled from the field with 11-of-26 shooting — paced the Hotshots with his own version of a double-double of 25 points and 19 rebounds, while rookie Jerom Lastimosa added 14 markers in his second PBA game after recovering from an ACL injury. The Hotshots were in control of the FiberXers almost the entire game, but got outscored by the latter, 26-16, in the fourth quarter as they failed to build on their fiery start to the Commissioner’s Cup, dropping to a 1-1 slate.
Meanwhile, in an all-Filipino battle between Meralco and Rain or Shine, the Bolts emerged triumphant, 121-111, to stay perfect in two games in the Commissioner’s Cup. Meralco import Akil Mitchell exited the game after only 12 seconds of play as he suffered a broken nose following an accidental hit by Rain or Shine’s Keith Datu, who attempted to block his layup in the first possession of the contest. Mitchell — who sank the game-winner in Meralco’s 111-109 win over the Phoenix Fuel Masters — did not return the rest of the game, as Rain or Shine also played without its import Deon Thompson, who has yet to secure a special work permit after joining the team just four days ago.
Newsome went to work early, scoring 21 of his 25 points in the first two quarters as the Bolts held a slim 52-49 lead at halftime. Quinto then took charge for Meralco in the second half, scattering 14 of his 20 points, including four straight charities in the endgame to settle the final count at 121-111. Aside from Newsome and Quinto, Jansen Rios (16 points), Norbert Torres (13 points), Raymond Almazan (12 points), Cliff Hodge (11 points), and Anjo Caram (10 points) all breached double-digit scoring for the Bolts.
It was also a balanced offensive output for the Elasto Painters in their conference opener as six players scored in double figures, led by Datu’s 17 points. Adrian Nocum backstopped Datu with 15 points, Leonard Santillan chipped in 14, Jhonard Clarito contributed 13, while Caelan Tiongson and Andrei Caracut poured in 12 and 11, respectively.
The Scores:
First Game
Converge 93 – Arana 24, Stockton 18, Racal 10, Diallo 10, Heading 8, Santos 8, Andrade 5, Winston 5, Nieto 3, Delos Santos 2.
Magnolia 91 – Ratliffe 25, Lastimosa 14, Sangalang 12, Ahanmisi 12, Lee 10, Lucero 10, Barroca 6, Laput 2, Dela Rosa 0, Dionisio 0.
Quarters: 22-26, 38-53, 67-75, 93-91.
Second Game
Meralco 121 – Newsome 25, Quinto 20, Rios 16, Torres 13, Almazan 12, Hodge 11, Caram 10, Black 9, Pascual 2 , Pasaol 1, Jose 2, Mitchell 0.
Rain or Shine 111 – Datu 17, Nocum 15, Santillan 14, Clarito 13, Tiongson 12, Caracut 11, Lemetti 9, Belga 6, Norwood 5, Malonzo 5, Ildefonso 2, Demusis 2.
Quarters: 33-25, 52-49, 89-81, 121-111.
Source: rappler.com
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