Converge, Magnolia advance to Govs’ Cup quarters

Sports

THE Converge FiberXers and the Magnolia Hotshots booked quarterfinal tickets after they downed separate opponents in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Sunday night, Oct. 11, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Juan Gomez de Liano delivered a scintillating triple-double show to power the FiberXers to a rousing 152-119 win over the Titan Ultra Giant Risers.

The shifty Gomez de Liano produced 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists for his fourth triple-double of his young career.

Import Cameron Clark unloaded 30 points and Justine Baltazar piled up 20 points and 11 boards as Converge improved to a 6-4 (win-loss), enough to secure a quarterfinal ticket in Group A.

Converge exploded for a season-high 53 points in the final period to score second-highest total points in the season.

The eliminated Titan dropped to 2-6 despite getting 31 points and nine boards from import Tirrell Brown.

Magnolia, on the other hand, secured its own quarterfinal berth by blasting the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 112-93.

Stretching its winning streak to five, Magnolia improved to 6-3 and pulled Ginebra down to 3-5.

Zav Lucero led Magnolia with 21 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Jordan Murphy scored 18 points for Ginebra, who found itself in a must-win situation in its remaining games after dropping out of Top 4 in Group B.

THE SCORES:

FIRST GAME

CONVERGE (152) – Gomez de Liano 32, Clark 30, Baltazar 20, Stockton 16, Abueva 15, Arana 11, Policarpio 11, Tungcab 7, Williams 4, Garcia 4, Clemente 2, Concepcion 0, Santos 0.

TITAN (119) – Brown 31, Munzon 22, Dionisio 16, Garcia 8, Wong 8, Pessumal 7, Omega 5, Caralipio 5, Yu 4, Ular 4, Inigo 3, Deles 2, Amores 2.QUARTERSCORES: 38-27; 71-60; 99-90; 152-119.

SECOND GAME

MAGNOLIA (112) – Lucero 21, Lastimosa 16, Barroca 15, Buffen 14, Alfaro 12, Sangalang 10, Koon 7, Laput 4, Dela Rosa 4, Andrada 3, Jopia 2, Verano 2, Taha 2, Gomez 0, Gomez de Liano 0.

GINEBRA (93) – Murphy 18, Abarrientos 12, Go 10, R.Aguilar 10,Holt 8, Estil 7, Gray 5, Thompson 5, J.Aguilar 4, Cu 3, Rosario 3, Torres 3, Pinto 3, Abis 2.QUARTERSCORES: 34-19, 63-46, 87-64, 112-93.(CCM)