The 2024–25 PBA Philippine Cup continued on Wednesday at the PhilSports Arena with a pair of games featuring teams in the middle of the standings—Converge FiberXers and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters—going up against teams at the bottom in the Terrafirma Dyip and Phoenix Fuel Masters, respectively. Here’s what went down:
Converge Escapes Terrafirma Despite Poor Start
The Converge FiberXers looked primed for an upset but turned things around just in time to rally past the Terrafirma Dyip and register a 117-103 victory for their sixth win this conference as against four defeats.
Converge was, in fact, still trailing 84-72 past the halfway mark of the third before turning things around, first with a 16-8 burst to end the penultimate period and inch to within 92-88. Then, the FiberXers took the lead, 100-95, with a 12-3 run to start the fourth. A second 12-3 run gave Converge control of the match, 112-100.
King Caralipio led the way with 18 points and a career-high 10 boards as three FiberXers finished with double-doubles. Justine Baltazar added 17 and 10, while Justin Arana, coming off the bench for the first time this conference, had 17 and 13. Alec Stockton fired 17 and Schonny Winston put up 16 more—including the first six points of the fourth.
Stanley Pringle topscored in the game with a conference-high 23, followed by 18 from Louie Sangalang and 17 from Keith Zaldivar. Mark Nonoy added 15 on a pair of four-pointers for the Dyip, who are now officially out of the running for the postseason.
The scores:
Converge (117) – Caralipio 18, Baltazar 17, Stockton 17, Arana 17, Winston 16, Racal 9, Delos Santos 6, Corpuz 5, B.Santos 4, Garcia 4, Suerte 4
Terrafirma (103) – Pringle 23, Sangalang 18, Zaldivar 17, Nonoy 15, Catapusan 12, Ferrer 11, Ramos 7, Melecio 0, Paraiso 0, Hernandez 0
Up Next:
Converge vs. San Miguel Beermen on June 11 (Ninoy Aquino Stadium)
Terrafirma vs. Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on June 4 (PhilSports Arena)
Rain or Shine Pushes Past Phoenix Behind Career-Game from Adrian Nocum
Adrian Nocum fired a career-high 30 points to power the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to a 109-99 victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
Jhonard Clarito added a double-double of 20 points and 10 boards for the Elasto Painters, who built a double-digit lead in the second quarter and sustained in until the final buzzer despite repeated comeback attempts by Phoenix. Caelan Tiongson and Leonard Santillan chipped in 14 and 12, respectively, to help Rain or Shine improve to 5-3.
Ken Tuffin led Phoenix with 15, followed by 14 from surprise contributor Raffy Verano. However, the Fuel Masters main man, Jason Perkins, scored only 10 points as he struggled mightily from the field.
With the loss, Phoenix fell to 2-6 and will have to win their remaining games to at least have a shot at making the playoffs.
The scores:
Rain or Shine (109) – Nocum 30, Clarito 20, Tiongson 14, Santillan 12, Caracut 8, Mamuyac 6, Asistio 5, Lemetti 4, Ildefonso 3, Norwood 3, Datu 2, Malonzo 2, Borboran 0
Phoenix (99) – Tuffin 15, Verano 14, Tio 14, Jazul 11, Perkins 10, Garcia 8, Ballungay 8, Camacho 6, Daves 5, Manganti 3, Cullar 3, Soyud 2, Alejandro 0, Ular 0
Up Next:
Rain or Shine vs. Terrafirma Dyip on June 4 (PhilSports Arena)
Phoenix vs. NLEX Road Warriors on June 1 (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
2024–25 PBA Philippine Cup Continues
The 2024–25 PBA Philippine Cup continues on Friday with a pair of games at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with playoff implications. In the first game, the TNT Tropang Giga look to extent their four-game winning run when they take on the skidding NorthPort Batang Pier. In the second game, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel will look to solidify its chase of a top four seed against the Meralco Bolts.
