Converge wins

ALEC Stockton scored 19 of his season-high 33 points in the opening half as Converge FiberX routed skidding Northport Batang Pier, 111-92, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Stung by a sorry 66-85 loss to Barangay Ginebra in San Fernando, Pampanga last week, the FiberXers were all business against the Batang Pier with Stockton leading the attack.

The FiberXers outscored the Batang Pier, 34-21 and 32-24, in the middle quarters and then coasted to victory in the opener of another exciting doubleheader.

The win — the fifth in eight matches — enabled the Franco Atienza-mentored FibeXers to move up in the standings and boost their chances advancing to the quarterfinals following the 11-game eliminations.

Schonny Winston added 22 for the FiberXers.

“It’s a good bounce back game for us. Somehow bumalik kami on how we want to play our game, specifically on defense,” said Atienza.

“I think the average of NorthPort is 100, 101? So, limiting them to 92 malaking bagay iyon. What’s more, ‘yung scoring output namin, from 66 points and (31) percent and ngayon 100-plus and (51.8) percent. So, malaking adjustment iyon.”

Joshua Munzon paced the Batang Pier with 23 points, followed by William Navarro with 20 points, Cade Flores with 14 and James Kwekuteye with12.

The scores:

Converge (111) — Stockton 33, Winston 22, Arana 18, Baltazar 10, B.Santos 7, Caralipio 7, Garcia 6, Suerte 4, Fleming 2, Nermal 2, Ambohot 0, R.Santos 0, Racal 0, Delos Santos 0.
NorthPort (92) — Munzon 23, Navarro 20, Flores 14, Kwekuteye 12, Bulanadi 6, Miranda 5, Jalalon 4, Nelle 3, Onwubere 3, Cuntapay 2, Yu 0, Nava 0, Taha 0.
Quarterscores: 16-19, 50-40, 82-64, 111-92.