Converge redeemed itself from an embarrassing loss to NorthPort in the first round, coming out with a pulsating 107-99 victory to pump life to its playoff hopes in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

The FiberXers squandered a huge 16-point lead and trailed by as many as seven in the fourth before recovering in time to snap their three-game slide and catch their victims with a similar 3-4 record in Group A.

The trio of Alec Stockton, Schonny Winston and Brian Santos came up huge in the waning minutes as they combined on an 18-3 finishing kick despite import Scotty Hopson playing subpar performance and Justin Arana fouling out.

Stockton finished with 21 points – none bigger than his and-1 play with 1:07 left to shove the FiberXers back into the lead, 101-99. Winston then delivered the dagger with a jumper in transition to finish with 17 points to go with his nine rebounds. 

Santos, who also had two big triples down the stretch, also wound up with 15 points while Hopson, who was playing through an injury, had 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

The heat of the game also spilled over even at the end of the final buzzer as Converge assistant Danny Ildefonso and NorthPort governor Erick Arejola figured in a commotion during the customary handshake before cooler heads prevailed.

Ildefonso and the Batang Pier have a bad history over the former's farm team comments on social media which stemmed from the ongoing contract impasse between the latter and his son, Dave.

The Batang Pier admitted that the comments actually served as a motivation for the team's 135-109 victory over the FiberXers in the first round. During that game, Arvin Tolentino exploded for 51 points.

He did finish with 21 in the contest but was not enough to complete NorthPort's comeback efforts from a huge 55-39 deficit in the first half. Venky Jois had 24 points and 14 rebounds but shot 12-of-27 from the free throw line.

Despite his free-throw shooting woes, he was at the forefront of the huge second half, along with William Navarro, to even give NorthPort a 92-84 lead midway through the final frame.