Under interim coach Franco Atienza, Converge buckled down on defense and posted a dominant win over Terrafirma in the PBA Governors' Cup on Tuesday, Aug. 21.
Converge jumpstarted its redemption drive with a convincing 127-95 win over Terrafirma in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup on Wednesday, August 21.
The FiberXers, who have interim coach Franco Atienza calling the shots, thus joined Meralco and TNT as the teams with opening game victories in Group A.
Scotty Hopson spearheaded the team’s attack with 46 big points including a perfect 3-for-3 from the four-point line. He also had eight rebounds and three assists in his PBA debut.
Alec Stockton also turned in an stellar outing with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, while Schonny Winston had 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
After a slow start, Justin Arana got his bearing going late and put up 13 points, six rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block.
Seemingly a rejuvenated squad following a dismal Season 48, Converge went on a searing 22-3 rally in the third quarter to pad the lead to 23, 75-52, on Alec Stockton’s six straight points with 7:40 remaining in the frame.
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The offensive onslaught did not stop there.
Over a minute later, Scotty Hopson soared for a two-handed flush, before Kevin Racal and Schonny Winston capped the 47-18 third quarter with five points, 100-67.
There was just nothing the Dyip could do even with the addition of former Best Player of the Conference winners Stanley Pringle and Christian Standhardinger from Ginebra.
“[We] give credit to the guys. I think we defended well. Scoring that much is an offshoot of how we defended,” saidConverge interim coach Franco Atienza.
Pringle paced the Dyip with 19 points on 2-for-3 shooting from 27 feet, to go with four rebounds and seven assists.
Import Antonio Hester had a double-double outing with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Ferrer scored the same number of points, while Standhardinger made his debut in a Terrafirma jersey with 17 points, six rebounds, and two assists.