San Miguel Beermen’s Juami Tiongson in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game against Converge FiberXers. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines–San Miguel secured a much-needed 116-113 triumph over budding rival Converge on Friday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Juami Tiongson played his finest game as a member of the famed Beermen, scoring 22 points and four rebounds to help the powerhouse squad avoid a meltdown after squandering a 19-point cushion and ultimately notch a fifth victory in 11 outings which kept them within the qualifying threshold for the playoffs.
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“I told them during the huddle that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish … Fortunately, we were able to win,” head coach Leo Austria said shortly after the tight contest at Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
READ: PBA: San Miguel makes another import switch this conference
Import Malik Pope tied Tiongson with 22 points to go with 14 rebounds. June Mar Fajardo chipped in 19 and 14 while Don Trollano added 17 more in the effort that also featured twin-digit contributions from CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter.
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Import Cheick Diallo had 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordan Heading 25 and seven spiked with five assists and two steals. Alec Stockton tossed in 19 points and 10 assists while Justine Baltazar 13 points and 12 boards as young cornerstone Justin Arana continued to rest his hyperextended knee.
San Miguel import Malik Pope during a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game against Converge FiberXers. –PBA IMAGES
San Miguel’s victory denied then No. 2-ranked Converge solo lead of the conference and sent the young telco club all the down No. 5 (8-4 win-loss) in the race of the import conference that is starting to get murkier by the day.
The triumph also snuffed out Blackwater’s chances of advancing.
The Beermen have one more game left in the elimination—against TNT on Jan. –but they are in no chance out of the woods yet with sister team Magnolia and NLEX all still in the running for the last two quarterfinal berths.
The Hotshots and the Road Warriors both have two games left.
The Scores:
SAN MIGUEL 116 – Pope 22, Tiongson 22, Fajardo 19, Trollano 17, Perez 11, Lassiter 10, Cruz 6, Tautuaa 6, Cahilig 3, Ross 0
CONVERGE 113 – Diallo 28, Heading 25, Stockton 19, Baltazar 13, Racal 8, Andrade 6, Winston 5, Delos Santos 4, Santos 3, Javillonar 2, Cabagnot 0, Ambohot 0
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Quarterscores: 29-16, 65-48, 99-81, 116-113.
