Ginebra nears sweep; Converge equalizes

Sports

THE Barangay Ginebra Kings built a commanding lead while the Converge FiberXers avoided falling into a deep hole after they snatched separate wins in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup quarterfinal round on Friday night, Oct. 30.

The Gin Kings grabbed a 2-0 lead by dominating the San Miguel Beermen, 126-99, while the FiberXers got back at the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters with a hard-earned 130-125 victory.

Jordan Murphy piled up 33 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as Ginebra followed up its 104-95 win in Game 1 to move a win away from sweeping its best-of-five series against the mighty Beermen.

RJ Abarrientos tossed in 22 points and Stephen Holt had 19 points. Scottie Thompson scored just 12 points but accounted for 11 of Ginebra’s massive 32 assists.

CJ Perez led the Beermen with 18 points while

Jerrick Ahanmisi had 17.

Import George King only attempted nine attempts for San Miguel and managed just 13.

Converge, on the other hand, recovered from its 120-124 Game 1 loss behind Cameron Clark, who tallied 22 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.

Eight Converge locals scored in double figures, including Mikey Williams, who scored 10 and hit a booming triple late in the game that zapped the life out of the Elasto Painters.

THE SCORES:

FIRST GAME

GINEBRA (126) – Murphy 33, Abarrientos 22, Holt 19, Thompson 12, J.Aguilar 9, Go 7, Rosario 7, Torres 6, Gray 5, Abis 3, Pinto 3, Cu 0, Estil 0, R. Aguilar 0.

SAN MIGUEL BEER (99) – Perez 18, Ahanmisi 17, Fajardo 16, King 13, Trollano 13, Cruz 9, Calma 6, Brondial 4, Lassiter 2, Ross 1, Hernandez 0, Teng 0, Mantua 0, Tautuaa 0, Cahilig 0.QUARTERSCORES: 34-24, 69-62, 102-82, 126-99.

SECOND GAME

CONVERGE (130) – Clark 22, Gomez de Liano 20, Baltazar 18, Stockton 18, Abueva 13, Arana 12, Tungcab 11, Williams 10, Policarpio 4, Garcia 2, Concepcion 0, Santos 0.

RAIN OR SHINE 125 – Fuller 26, Clarito 22, Nocum 22, Tiongsson 17, Villegas 10, Cuajao 10, Lemetti 8, Caracut 6, Malonzo 4, Santillan 0.QUARTERSCORES: 37-30, 70-56, 95-93, 130-125.(CCM)