Justine Arana erupted for 30 points while propelling Converge to a 123-95 beatdown of Barangay Ginebra in the PBA on Tour on Sunday at the FilOil EcoOil Center in San Juan.
On top of his 30 points, Arana also grabbed 15 rebounds.
His on-court partner, Adrian Wong, rifled eight shots from beyond the arc to finish with 26 markers.
“Ang sabi ng coaches namin kahit sino pwedeng magtake over, so ginawa lang namin trabaho namin,” said Arana, who also tallied four assists and three blocks.
“Big shoutout sa teammates namin kasi kung ‘di sila nandito hindi naman ako makakapagscore kung walang depensa e.”
Converge also drew big numbers from Jeron Teng and Mike Nieto, who scored 18 and 17, respectively.
Arana said coach Aldin Ayo wanted each of his players to bring something new to each game.
“’Yan ‘yung extra work na ginagawa namin. Sobrang bilis magadjust sa PBA ng mga coaches so kailangang everyday may nadedevelop kami,” he said. “Habang gusto ni coach Aldin, talagang press kami.”
From a 52-47 halftime advantage, the FiberXers pressed aggressively and hiked the lead to 17 points going into the payoff period. Converge then went full blast in the fourth quarter, and the Gin Kings could only do little to recover.
Nards Pinto and Sidney Onwubere scored 19 each for Ginebra, which played without some of its stars.
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