MANILA – Converge FiberXers rode on a dominant inside presence by Cheick Diallo for a 102-91 victory over NLEX Road Warriors in the 2024-25 PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
The former Phoenix Suns center finished with a double-double of 37 points and 18 rebounds to go with two steals and two blocks as the FiberXers improved to a 3-2 win-loss slate.
Alec Stockton added 16 markers, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while Jordan Heading and King Caralipio contributed 14 and 10 markers, respectively, for the FiberXers.
Holding to a 10-point lead late in the third quarter, the FiberXers saw their advantage cut to 82-84 on consecutive baskets from Road Warriors’ Michael Watkins early in the fourth quarter.
The FiberXers, however, responded with three straight baskets from Stockton and inside conversions from Diallo as the lead stretched back to 10 points at 96-86 with over three minutes left.
The Road Warriors made their last push at 90-96 on a four-point shot from Robert Bolick Jr., but the FiberXers relied on inside baskets from Diallo to increase the lead back to double-digits.
FiberXers interim head coach Franco Atienza stated that the victory was a huge bounce back for them after suffering a 108-101 defeat to the NorthPort Batang Pier last Thursday.
“Whenever we are coming off a loss, we just want to go back on what we are doing and review on where we could improve, it just so happened that we were able to play together defensively,” Atienza said after the game.
“Also, a good bounce back win for CD (Diallo), he proved his worth in this game. We are least worried about his numbers, right now it just so happened that we were getting him, we were seeing him, and our guys were feeding him the ball,” he added.
Watkins tallied a double-double of 36 points and 23 rebounds, while Bolick added 26 markers as the Road Warriors suffered their second straight loss to drop to a 3-3 win-loss slate./PN
BOX SCORE:
CONVERGE 102 – Diallo 37, Stockton 16, Heading 14, Caralipio 10, Winston 8, Racal 6, Baltazar 4, Arana 4, Santos 3, Delos Santos 0, Cabagnot 0, Nieto 0.
NLEX 91 – Watkins 36, Bolick 26, Semerad 8, Alas 7, Amer 4, Torres 4, Valdez 2, Rodger 2, Herndon 2, Bahio 0, Policarpio 0.
Quarterscores: 28-18, 52-44, 77-72, 102-91.
