CONVERGE charged back from 16 points down in regulation play and outfought San Miguel Beer in overtime, squeezing out a 113-111 win in a Fathers Day thriller in PBA on Tour at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Jerrick Balanza drained the game-winner on a fastbreak attack with Alec Stockton in the closing seconds as the FiberXers pulled off the reversal in the first game that went in extra period in the preseason series presented by Arena Plus and sponsored by Bingo Plus.
With 1.9 ticks left, the Beermen were no longer able to get a decent shot at the basket, thus, allowing the FiberXers to end a three-game slump and improve to 2-3.
Jeric Teng, Justin Arana, Kevin Racal, Barkley Ebona and Stockton paved the way for Converge's fightback in the fourth quarter leading to the win that spoiled Jericho Cruz' PBA on Tour high of 41 points.
All these five players together with Balanza and Mike Nieto finished in double figures for a squad playing under interim coach Franco Atienza.
Sponsored content: Stockton provided the team a huge lift with a team-high 23 points, including a clutch trey that tied the count at 111 with 17 seconds left.
After that, the FiberXers put up a tough team defense, foiling Moala Tautuaa's inside attack and essentially ending San Miguel's hope to stop a two-game skid.
Also going down the drain were the double-double numbers of Tautuaa (15 points and 14 assists) and Rodney Brondial (13 markers and 14 boards) as the Beermen fell to 3-3.
Big runs in the second half had the FiberXers catching up then enjoying a first lead at 76-75.
After sitting out the whole third quarter, Teng returned fresh in the fourth and sparked a run that even allowed them to post an eight-point lead at 90-82.
Sponsored content: But the Beermen worked on their own fightback and forced overtime at 99-all. (SB)
