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| Justin Arana scored eight straight points to keep Converge alive against Phoenix. Dennis Acosta (file photo) |
MANILA--Converge and Rain Or Shine drew first blood in the Kadayawan Invitational Basketball Tournament on Thursday night at the University of Southeastern Philippines Gym in Davao City.
The FiberXers, playing all-Filipino, stunned the Phoenix Fuel Masters, who activated new import Jay McKinnis, with a 132-127 overtime win.
Justin Arana saved the day for Converge as he scored a buzzer-beating putback off Schonny Winston's missed free throw to force overtime at 113-all.
The six-foot-seven center then began the extension with six straight points, all on layups, to put his team up, 119-113, with 2:57 left.
Phoenix still tried to stay in the game as a JJay Alejandro three cut Converge's lead down to one, 123-122, with 1:11 to go and even had a golden opportunity to tie the game anew with 48.2 seconds left.
Ken Tuffin, however, missed two free throws that could have forced the stalemate anew and threw an errant pass intended for Alejandro after BJ Andrade went 3-for-3 from the foul line.
Winston then iced the game with a corner three for a 130-122 cushion with 24 seconds left.
In the nightcap, the Elasto Painters banked on the heroics of Aaron Fuller and Jhonard Clarito to take down the De La Salle Green Archers, 106-105.
Fuller, who reunited with old coach Yeng Guiao, scored on a layup with 42.5 seconds left to put ROS up for good.
Clarito then preserved his team's win on defense, forcing EJ Gollena to badly miss a tough layup attempt and stripping the ball from Kevin Quiambao at the buzzer.
Fuller led the Elasto Painters with 33 points on 11-of-19 shooting and 18 rebounds.
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