Converge battles back from 20 points down, shocks Magnolia

Sports

ALEC Stockton and Justin Arana came alive in the endgame to help the Converge FiberXers complete a 93-91 come-from-behind win over the Magnolia Hotshots in the 49th PBA Commissioner's Cup on Sunday night, December 1, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Stockton tallied 18 points, 16 of which he made in the second half while Arana unloaded 14 of his 24 in the final two quarters to help the FiberXers wipe out a 20-point deficit for their second win in three games in the tournament.

Stockton, who also tallied a game-high 10 assists, was superb in the closing seconds that sealed Converge's huge fightback.

Stockton first dropped a three-pointer that tied the contest at 91-all. He then assisted Arana in a crucial play that put Converge ahead, 93-91, with 5.6 seconds left.

Jerrick Ahanmisi then missed a trifecta at the buzzer, sealing Magnolia's first loss in two matches.

Converge survived despite getting just 10 points from Cheick Diallo although the Malian import had 16 rebounds.

Ricardo Ratliffe led the Hotshots with 25 points and 19 rebounds.

In the other match, the Meralco Bolts mangled the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 121-111, in a duel that saw the squads play without imports.

Meralco lost import Akil Mitchell just 12 seconds into the match after suffering a broken nose caused by an inadvertent hit by Rain or Shine's Keith Datu's arm.

Rain or Shine was without Deon Thompson, who hasn't secured his "special work permit" yet.

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.

QUARTERSCORES : 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, Jose 2, Pasaol 1, 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.

QUARTERSCORES: 33-25, 52-49, 89-81, 121-111.(CCM)