Justin Arana pounded his way inside for the FiberXers. PBA Images |
SAN JUAN, MM—The Converge FiberXers banked on Justin Arana's dominant performance to cruise past Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, in a 123-95 blowout in the PBA On Tour, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre, Sunday.
The 24-year-old big man Arana powered the FiberXers' engine as he registered a monster double-double of 30 points alongside 15 rebounds.
Converge came out swinging right at the start with Arana providing the needed presence inside the paint coupled with Adrian Wong's hot shooting to bag an early 27-19 lead.
Ginebra then fought back with veterans John Pinto and Sidney Onwubere stepping up in the second, trimming the lead of Converge to just five, 52-47 come halftime.
Arana continued to pound inside for the FiberXers, igniting the 9-0 second-half surge that gave Converge a 67-55 lead in the early goings of the third.
Then Wong, Kevin Racal, and Michael Nieto finished it off for Converge as the trio waxed hot from beyond the arc come the final quarter, sparking a 31-point advantage of 118-87 to pull away for good in the closing salvo.
Wong ended the game with 26 points across his name while Racal and Nieto chipped in 13 and 17 markers for Converge.
On the other side of the court, Pinto and Onwubere both tallied 19 points each for Brgy. Ginebra.
Converge will try to make it two in a row against NLEX Road Warriors this Friday while Ginebra will try to get back in the winning column as they face TNT Tropang Giga also on July 21 at the Ynares Arena, Pasig City.
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