Two contenders—Converge FiberXers and San Miguel Beermen—flexed their might on Sunday as the 2024–25 PBA Philippine Cup continued at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Here’s a recap of the action:
Meralco Waylays Terrafirma Behind Balanced Effort
Bong Quinto scored the first seven points—a trey and a four—as the Meralco Bolts leaned on some red-hot shooting to dominate the Terrafirma Dyip, 118-80, for their second straight win in the Philippine Cup.
Quinto finished with 13 points and 5 assists as five other Bolts scored at least 11. Rookies CJ Cansino and Kurt Reyson led the way, scoring 19 and 16 markers, respectively. Brandon Bates, Jolo Mendoza, and Alvin Pasaol chipped in 11 apiece. Meralco shot 42-for-78—or 54%—from the field and made sure there would be no need for a big comeback in its wire-to-wire win. The Bolts also hit four four-pointers, with Cansino canning four of them.
Louie Sangalang paced Terrafirma with 23 points and 7 rebounds to continue his stellar play. Stanley Pringle and Aljun Melecio added 11 each, while Mark Nonoy scattered 10 for the outgunned Dyip.
The scores:
Meralco (118) – Cansino 19, Reyson 16, Quinto 13, Pasaol 11, Mendoza 11, Bates 11, Caram 9, Hodge 7, Torres 5, Jose 4, Almazan 4, Rios 3, Newsome 2, Black 2, Pascual 1
Terrafirma (80) – Sangalang 23, Pringle 11, Melecio 11, Nonoy 10, Romeo 9, Catapusan 7, Ramos 6, Zaldivar 3, Hernandez 0, Hanapi 0, Paraiso 0
Up Next:
Terrafirma vs. NorthPort Batang Pier on April 13 (Ninoy Aquino Stadium)
Meralco vs. San Miguel Beermen (Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
Converge Stops Phoenix Behind Alec Stockton, Justine Baltazar
Alec Stockton and Justine Baltazar powered the Converge FiberXers past the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 92-83, to notch their first win in the Philippine Cup.
Stockton fired a team-high 18 points on top of 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 assist, while Baltazar was all over, scoring 9 points, grabbing 16 boards, and issuing 6 dimes to go along with 2 rejections. Justin Arana added 10 points and 10 boards to help Converge bounce back from its heartbreaking opening-day loss to Meralco. Schonny Winston and Bryan Santos provided added firepower as they combined for 26 points of the bench.
Kai Balunggay followed his career-night with a 15-point outing. Tyler Tio added 13, but Phoenix got little firepower from the other Fuel Masters. Kent Salado and JJ Alejandro chipped in 8 as Phoenix’s late-game rally proved to be a little too late.
The scores:
Converge (92) – Stockton 18, Winston 14, B. Santos 12, Arana 10, Baltazar 9, Nermal 7, M. Garcia 6, Racal 5, Caralipio 5, Delos Santos 2, Corpuz 2, Ambohot 2, Suerte 0, R. Santos 0
Phoenix (83) – Ballungay 15, Tio 13, Salado 8, Alejandro 8, Tuffin 7, Rivero 6, Camacho 6, R. Garcia 6, Soyud 5, Ular 4, Verano 3, Jazul 1, Manganti 1, Daves 0
Up Next:
Converge vs. Magnolia Hotshots on April 9 (Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
Phoenix vs. Meralco on April 13 (Ninoy Aquino Stadium)
2024–25 PBA Philippine Cup Continues
The 2024–25 PBA Philippine Cup continues on Wednesday, April 9, with the league’s special golden anniversary double-header. Converge will take on Magnolia in the first game, followed by Meralco taking on San Miguel. Lower box tickets for that set of games will be priced at ₱50, with fans attending live to receive an anniversary shirt from Asia’s first pay-for-play hoops league.
