PBA: Justin Arana, Converge survive familiar Terrafirma comeback

Justin Arana dropped his second career-best game to help Converge escape a gritty Terrafirma stand, 105-103, in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Locals did it for the FiberXers with Justin Arana erupting for 31 points, just one point shy of his career-high 32, while also grabbing 10 rebounds, three assists, and one block as they improved to 2-0 in Group A.

Juan Gomez de Liaño, who was limited to only two points in their conference opener against Titan, got his offense going this time with 19 points, two rebounds, and two assists.

With Arana and Gomez de Liaño taking charge, Converge made sure there was no repeat of last conference where the FiberXers had to escape Terrafirma in overtime. The Dyip are also coming off a narrow loss to NLEX, where they nearly overcame a 23-point deficit en route to a 101-100 loss.

“Siguro ‘pag talaga kami kalaban kami ng Terrafirma, ganado po sila talaga. We had a 16-point lead pero nahabol pa nila but good thing ay nalampasan namin,” Converge head coach Delta Pineda said.

Converge did everything as planned in the first three quarters with Arana completing a layup that sent the FiberXers to a 78-62 lead late in the third.

But Terrafirma mounted a fightback in the fourth behind CJ Catapusan, Juami Tiongson, and import Justin Strings.

Catapusan completed a three-point play before Strings and Tiongson hit back-to-back baskets to trim the gap to seven, 100-93. Converge regained a nine-point cushion when Archie Concepcion knocked down a triple and Arana converted a putback, 105-96.

Strings then buried two consecutive buckets before Tiongson sizzled from the three-point arc to pull Terrafirma within two and cap off a crucial 7-0 run, 105-103, in the last 1:16.

Aljon Mariano had the chance to tie things up but his floater was denied by Justine Baltazar in the final 26 seconds. A costly Converge turnover opened the window anew for the Dyip, but Maverick Ahanmisi missed out on a four-point shot as they fell to a 1-2 card.

The win, though, saw an offensive struggle from Converge import Jalen Hudson, who only shot one of his 14 field goal attempts throughout the game.

Scores:

Converge 105 – Arana 31, Gomez de Liano 19, Baltazar 16, Concepcion 13, Garcia 12, Williams 9, Abueva 3, Hudson 2, Stockton 0, Tungcab 0, Policarpio 0, Muyang 0.

Terrafirma 103 – Strings 40, Tiongson 17, Catapusan 11, Chiu 9, Paraiso 7, Ahanmisi 6, Mariano 6, Bravo 5, Hanapi 2, Umali 0, Miller 0, Eriobu 0, Zaldivar 0.

Quarters: 35-36, 59-51, 82-71, 105-103.

—JKC, GMA News