MANILA, Philippines – The first time was so nice, Scotty Hopson had to do it twice.
Hopson hit another game-winner from four-point distance, allowing Converge to scrape past Terrafirma in an enthralling 100-99 victory in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Saturday, September 14.
Scoreless in the entire fourth quarter, Hopson bailed his team out once again by hitting a gutsy four-pointer with 2.5 seconds left as the FiberXers won consecutive games for the first time this conference and improved to 4-4.
Hopson, who finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, replicated his feat when he sank the first game-winning four-pointer in league history in a 96-95 triumph over TNT last August 27.
“When you have a weapon like that, you have to use it,” said Converge interim coach Franco Atienza of Hopson, who pulled through despite nursing a hamstring injury.
“It is just nice that the four point is available, and again, Scotty Hopson is there. It felt like lightning struck twice for us.”
Hopson draining the game-winner, though, would not have been possible without the endgame heroics of Schonny Winston, who scattered 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and also contributed 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
Winston went on a personal 6-0 blitz inside the final 1:40 minutes to pull the FiberXers within 96-97.
A pair of Kevin Ferrer free throws gave the Dyip a 99-96 lead with 6.6 seconds to go, but a breakthrough win remained elusive for Terrafirma as Hopson preserved the efforts of Winston.
“I was in the same spot when he hit it against TNT. It felt like deja vu. It was weird because I watched the same trajectory and it was like a flash of deja vu. And the gym was quiet and then he made it. It was crazy,” said Winston.
Alec Stockton chipped in 15 points and 2 steals, while Justin Arana and Bryan Santos added 13 points each for Converge, which stayed at fourth place in Group B to stay in the running for the last quarterfinal berth.
Terrafirma, meanwhile, dropped to 0-8 and crashed out of playoff contention.
Dyip import Antonio Hester led all scorers with 28 points to go with 11 rebounds and 7 assists, but his stellar performance went down the drain as he missed his own crack at the game-winner as time expired.
Rookie Paolo Hernandez had 15 points and Andreas Cahilig put up 15 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
The Scores
Converge 100 – Winston 19, Hopson 18, Stockton 15, Arana 13, Santos 13, Delos Santos 9, Andrade 6, Cabagnot 3, Caralipio 2, Nieto 2, Ambohot 0.
Terrafirma 99 – Hester 28, Hernandez 15, Cahilig 15, Pringle 14, Ferrer 8, Carino 8, Ramos 5, Hanapi 4, Sangalang 2, Olivario 0.
Quarters: 20-24, 40-52, 71-73, 100-99.
– Rappler.com