The winner completes the eight-team cast in the playoffs this conference. The loser gets an early vacation.
The two teams find themselves in a startling reversal of pre-conference fortunes. TNT was among the early favorites to dominate this conference while Phoenix was expected to be among the early casualties. That has not been the case this conference thus far.
TNT KaTropa defender Kelly Williams (21). PBA
Matthew Wright of Phoenix made big plays down the stretch to lift his team over TNT, 74-72, last February 7.
Wright converted the game-tying three-pointer to peg the count at 72-all, with 44.1 seconds left. He then set up Doug Kramer for the game-winning basket with 3.0 ticks remaining.
Wright, a Fil-Canadian, finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals. Kramer wound up with eight points and seven rebounds.
Anthony Semerad led TNT with 12 points. Roger Pogoy had 10.
It was bad offensive night for both teams, who shot only 37 percent from the field.
Phoenix head coach Louie Alas said the two scoring opportunities actually emanated from the same play. After draining a three-pointer the TNT defense stuck close to Wright which freed Kramer underneath.
Phoenix had to post a similarly razor-thin decision over the GlobalPort Batang Pier last Friday, March 2 to arrange the playoff against TNT.
Phoenix clinched the playoff for the last eight spot after weathering a furious GlobalPort rally to post a 104-100 victory.
The Fuelmasters were on fire early and actually built a 31-point cushion. It proved enough to withstand Batang Pier’s rally. The hard-earned victory allowed Phoenix to finish the eliminations with a 5-6 card.
Wright sparked the early surge of Phoenix as he fired 22 of his 32 points in the first half. Despite the loss, GlobalPort is still through to the playoffs, as it ended up in seventh place after Barangay Ginebra beat the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in triple overtime later that same play date.
The Fuelmasters saw a fat 66-35 lead early in the third quarter disappear. They probably expected the Batang Pier—who would essentially have advanced to the quarterfinals regardless of the result—to just go through the motions but instead played like the match was a do-or-die game.
The Batang Pier managed to cut the gap to just four points, 102-98, following a Terrence Romeo fastbreak layup after getting a Stanley Pringle no-look pass with 26.3 second left.
Jeff Chan also delivered for Phoenix with 18 points, all but one in the first three quarters. His last point proved to be crucial as it pushed the Fuelmasters up, 104-98.
Romeo led the Batang Pier in his first game back from a knee injury, finishing with 20 points in 30 minutes off the bench. Sean Anthony added 17 markers, eight boards, five assists, three blocks and two steals.
Pringle chipped in 16 points, 10 assists, six boards, and three steals. Yousef Taha scored all but two of his 12 points but it all eventually went for naught. Taha stepped up after starting big man Kelly Nabong was ejected late in the first half.
