Converge rookie Justin Arana showed maturity as he delivered the biggest plays down the stretch to squeeze out a 92-90 victory over Blackwater in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday, July 20, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 23-year-old center showed nerves of steel on both ends of the floor, first scoring on a short stab to tie the game at 90-all before blocking Jvee Casio’s layup attempt on the other end with 20 seconds left. Arana then showed patience in the next possession, making a hook shot in traffic to put the FiberXers ahead, 92-90, with 10 seconds remaining.
Blackwater had the chance to send the game to an extra period but Barkley Ebona botched an open layup off a nice feed from Casio at the buzzer.
With the win, the FiberXers are now assured of at least a playoff for the eighth seed after wrapping up the eliminations with a 5-6 record. Their victory also eliminated Phoenix and NorthPort, which are both sporting 3-7 records at the 10th and 11th spots of the standings.
Arana dropped nine of his 13 points in the final frame which also went with five rebounds. Maverick Ahanmisi also displayed an all-game brilliance with 18 points and seven assists while Abu Tratter finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Converge head coach Jeff Cariaso lauded his wards for playing with a sense of urgency.
“We made it clear what we are playing for and that was to give us a higher chance to make the playoffs in our first conference. I think that motivated us even more,” said Cariaso.
“We got our butts kicked the last game so we wanted to also make sure to come out better. We knew that we are better than what we showed in the last game and we wanted to play better and I think the guys did that,” he added.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser showed the way for the Bossing with 20 points and 12 rebounds while Casio provided support with 16 of his own. Baser Amer added 12 but was well defended in the last play after delivering clutch baskets for Blackwater in their last two wins.
Those efforts, however, went futile as they absorbed their fourth straight defeat and now are even in danger of missing the playoffs altogether.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair all-game long, evident in the 20 lead changes and nine deadlocks in the crucial contest. Blackwater managed to take a nine point lead, 60-51, late in the third quarter but the FiberXers managed to recover behind timely hits from Arana and Allyn Bulanadi to keep it close in the final frame.
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