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| Cameron Clark exploded for 37 points. Peter Baltazar |
PASIG—Converge had the last laugh over NLEX in an exchange of clutch moments to walk away with a 112-110 win in their PBA Governors' Cup second-round meeting on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
In the dying moments that saw Robert Bolick and Juan Gomez De Liaño exchanging go-ahead fours and the Road Warriors staying close with the FiberXers, Converge still emerged victorious as NLEX eventually ran out of luck.
After Gomez De Liaño made two free throws to up the FiberXers' lead to four 110-106, Robert Bolick, the only player to convert a five-point play in PBA history, came close to forcing another one after he made a four-pointer while getting fouled by Balti Baltazar with 10.6 seconds left.
However, the referee ruled that Baltazar had already fouled Bolick before setting his position for the long-range shot, nullifying the basket in the process.
In the next play, Bolick tried the same pick-and-pop play that nearly earned him the four-and-one, but he badly missed his four-point shot without getting fouled, and Gomez De Liaño grabbed the rebound.
Gomez De Liaño once again went perfect from the foul line to seemingly ice the game for Converge 112-106 with 3.2 seconds remaining.
However, LJay Gonzales hit a four-pointer while getting fouled by Calvin Abueva with 0.6 seconds to go.
With no other choice but to muff the five-point play, Gonzales intentionally missed the bonus free throw, but Cameron Clark grabbed the defensive rebound to ice the game.
Clark led the FiberXers, who won back-to-back games to move up to solo third place in Group A at 5-4 before the Gilas Pilipinas break, with 37 points on 17 of 30 shooting, 12 rebounds, one assist, and three blocks.
Gomez De Liaño and Justin Arana each added 19 markers.
Gonzales led the Road Warriors, who decided to play all-Filipino following DeQuan Jones' season-ending leg injury, with 23 points on 7 of 12 shooting, two rebounds, three assists, and two steals off the bench.
JB Bahio added 16 markers on 8-for-13 field goals, 12 rebounds, and one block off the bench too, but his efforts also fell short of giving his team the first spot in the quarterfinals before the two-month ceasefire.
Instead, NLEX let San Miguel join a tie at the top of Group A at 7-2 as the former lost two of its last three games after sweeping the first round of the group stages.
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