Fiberxers win high-octane tiff

MANILA, Philippines — Hotter than hot .

Converge shot down Phoenix in a breakneck, high-scoring dogfight of streaking teams, 132-127, to continue its charge in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Quincy Miller rifled in 46 points spiked by eight triples to spearhead the FiberXers, who, with their sixth straight win, are now the sole holder of the tournament’s longest active run.

Miller’s fiery hands rubbed off on local aces Jeron Teng and RK Ilagan, who shot 25 and a career-high 22, respectively, as the first-year squad jacked up to 7-2 overall for solo No. 2 behind idle Magnolia (6-1).

The Fuel Masters fell to their fourth loss overall after going on a five-game roll.

As expected, it was a high-octane showdown that featured combatants who were quick to pounce on every opportunity to score.

“It was high-scoring because of the pace; andaming transition threes in this game,” said Converge coach Aldin Ayo.

The FiberXers sank 22 triples in all – the all time most for a rookie ballclub – which paved the way to their franchise-high total score.

Ayo’s charges shot 47.4 percent overall (46-of-97) against Phoenix’ 43 percent (46-of-107). The Fuel Masters made 14 three-pointers on their end.

“We tried to simplify our plays. We were disrupted by their zone press and we got delayed by it so we just called our short plays. We just made sure mailagay sa tamang pwesto ang players, sa sitwasyon na makaka-score sila,” he said.

Miller converted 13 of his 25 attempts and also posted 18 rebounds and five assists as he played a full game this time.

Later, NorthPort snapped a three-game slide with a 107-94 blowout of NLEX to climb to eighth spot at 4-5.

Robert Bolick (33-12-7), Prince Ibeh (22-17) and William Navarro (17-13-7) shone bright as the Batang Pier stretched the skid of the Road Warriors (3-5) to three.