BY: REYNALD MAGALLON
Converge teammates Justin Arana and Archie Concepcion were quick to downplay their verbal spat during one of the team’s timeouts late in their 149-124 victory over Macau at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday, July 17.
Arana and Concepcion were seen getting into a heated altercation at the bench during a Converge timeout with 2:40 left in the game before cooler heads prevailed and separated the two.
It turned out the altercation stemmed from a rebound play two possessions prior when both players battled for the rebound, resulting in a turnover in the 3:20 mark of the fourth quarter.
Converge was comfortably ahead 133-112 at that point.
“Sa rebound lang naman. Nagkasagutan lang kami. Pero wala naman,” said Arana, who finished with 39 points and 11 rebounds in the FiberXers third straight win to open the conference.
“Hindi naman big deal. Team pa rin naman kami. So, after noon wala naman mangyayari,” assured Arana.
Concepcion refused to further comment about the incident after the game although he assured all is good between him and his prized center.
“Wala na po iyon. Misunderstanding lang. Okay kami,” said Concepcion as he politely declined interviews after the game.
Nonetheless, that incident was the only blemish to the FiberXers’ dominant win where they recorded an all-time franchise scoring record in a game, beating their previous 136 points output in a victory over Blackwater last conference.
On the other hand, Arana, who poured 31 in the previous game, became the second Converge player to score in back-to-back games or since Alec Stockton first achieved the feat. His 39 points is also the most by a local player in franchise history, also beating Stockton’s previous 36 points.
