Converge came close to making it to the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals and it took a monster performance from eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo to repulse the FiberXers’ spirited charge in the Game Five clincher of San Miguel Beer’s 109-105 quarterfinal win at the Ynares Center, Antipolo, last Sunday. Fajardo delivered 40 points and 24 rebounds to douse Converge’s hopes of barging into the Final Four.
With 7:33 left, Converge was up, 99-91, then San Miguel unloaded 10 straight points to spark an 18-6 closer. The FiberXers shot two of 12 in that stretch, never went to the line and committed two turnovers in the final 25 seconds. Jalen Jones was blanked in the last 12 minutes while Fajardo and EJ Anosike combined for 13 to finish off Converge.
The meltdown wasn’t unexpected. Converge is the PBA’s youngest team with an average age of 27.6 years even if Alex Cabagnot, 41, is in the lineup. San Miguel, averaging 32.4, is the third oldest squad after Barangay Ginebra (32.7) and TNT (32.6). The lack of experience showed in the pressure-packed Game 5.
But Converge displayed amazing grit in coming back from 0-2 to even the series, beating San Miguel, 114-112, in Game Three and 114-100 in Game Four. The FiberXers averaged 62 points in the paint and 27 fastbreak points in those two wins compared to San Miguel’s 42 and 11. In Game Five, the Beermen turned the tables on Converge and had more points in the paint, 64-44, and fastbreak points, 13-7. San Miguel dominated the boards, 57-43, and scored more second chance points, 26-9, as coach Jorge Gallent focused his attention on the Beermen’s power inside game anchored on Fajardo.
The quarterfinals reestablished Alec Stockton and Justin Arana as Converge’s main men on both ends. But the series also unveiled Deschon Winston as a force, starting in the last three games. Bryan Santos, Cabagnot, King Caralipio and JL de los Santos played key roles, too. Imagine if Kevin Racal, who sat out the last eight contests due to injury, had played. Racal averaged 8.1 points and hit .538 from three-point distance before going down. Cabagnot’s reemergence was a huge positive as Converge needed his maturity to stabilize things.
Clearly, Converge overachieved in the Governors’ Cup despite a midstream import change from Scotty Hopson to Jones. The upside is the FiberXers will only get better. Note that Converge didn’t bring in a single rookie from this year’s draft as Justine Baltazar is finishing his MPBL commitments, Pao Javillonar is winding up his NCAA season and Ben Phillips is likely to report for the third conference as he’s doing marketing work for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Interim head coach Franco Atienza, lead assistant Charles Tiu and active coaching consultant Rajko Toroman are excited about the future along with Willie Miller and Danny Ildefonso in the staff. PBA Converge governor Archen Cayabyab knows he’s got a solid roster with Baltazar, Javillonar and Phillips coming soon and finishing close to advancing to the semifinals this conference, the FiberXers are undoubtedly, the PBA’s team of the future.