FiberXers seek strong finish
After bombing out of playoff contention, Converge is looking to play the spoiler’s role and end its campaign on a high note in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.
FiberXers coach Aldin Ayo said they will still go hard in their remaining games to establish momentum that they can carry in the next conference.
“We want to exit this conference on a high note (which), hopefully, we could carry into the next conference,” Ayo said after getting the monkey off their backs with a hard-earned 104-99 win over Meralco last Sunday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Converge’s first win in the all-Filipino Conference halted an eight-game slide and a total of 12-match losing skid dating back to the Commissioner’s Cup.
The FiberXers will face Barangay Ginebra on Sunday in Cagayan de Oro before taking on TNT Tropang Giga on 1 May to wrap up their campaign in the preliminaries.
Despite facing two heavyweights, Ayo believes that they can pull off an upset as they will play with no pressure compared to the Kings and the Tropang Giga.
After all, the Kings are seeking a top two finish to avail of the two twice-to-beat advantages at stake while the Tropang Giga want to reserve a ticket to the next round.
“We’re just going to compete. We just want to end this conference on a high note. We’re going to do our best to compete,” Ayo said.
“We have nothing to lose, we’re just gonna enjoy the game and I need the players just to play their game and loosen up.”
The season-ending conference have been tough for the FiberXers.
Despite having scorers like Alec Stockton, who is averaging 22.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, Bryan Santos and Justine Arana, the FiberXers struggled to deliver the finishing kicks that would give them elusive victories.
Still, they kept on fighting. “We didn’t lose hope when the losses were piling up. That’s the more these players, the whole team, are motivated. The more excited to get our first win,” Ayo said.
Prior to the victory over Meralco, Converge dictated the tempo against leader San Miguel Beer in the first half before falling prey to a 51-point explosion that crushed their morale and cost them the earthshaking win.
They employed the same game plan against the Bolts. But this time, they were able to sustain the momentum until the final buzzer, leading to their first win since 13 December last year — a 103-94 overtime triumph over Terrafirma — in the Commissioner’s Cup.
“If you noticed, we’ve been playing hard. Everyone’s active, from the bench to the coaching staff to the players. They’re playing their roles, trying to support each other,” Ayo said.