COASTING for most part, Phoenix still needed to weather a second-half storm before eventually turning back Star, 106-93, for a much-needed victory in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
In one of his best outings thus far, Eugene Phelps carried most of the load for the Fuel Masters, scoring a game-high 45 points on 17-of-29 shooting, to go with 17 rebounds.
This second straight win for the surging Phoenix Petroleum lift it to 4-4, good for sixth place, as its chances of making the quarterfinals strengthened while Star’s woeful stretch continued after tasting its fifth straight defeat, sending it further down the cellar with its atrocious 1-7 slate.
“Slowly but surely, the team is maturing. Hopefully, we’re peaking at the right time,” said Phoenix coach Ariel Vanguardia. “We need one more win to make the quarterfinals and I hope we can gut it out.”
Leading by double-digits for most part of the first three quarters, the Fuel Masters looked poised to cruise to the finish, but the Hotshots had one serious run.
Star rallied through a 15-0 bomb to end the third quarter, turning a gigantic 20-point Phoenix lead, 77-57, into just a five-point distance, 77-72, heading into the final 12 minutes of action.
However, that proved to be the Hotshots’ biggest surge as the Fuel Masters regained control and responded with a decisive 24-12 run down the stretch in the fourth to bag the victory.
“Even when we were up by 20, we still had high respect for Star and I was still scared. I’m happy we’re able to hurdle it,” added Vanguardia.
Through Phelps’ dazzling start, Phoenix took command by the end of the first canto.
The Fuel Masters took a sizeable 32-19 spread into the second period.
There, they even led by 15 points twice before the Hotshots trimmed their deficit to a more manageable nine points, 56-47, at the break.
Phelps scored 24 of his total points in the opening half alone.
Just three minutes into the third, Phoenix restored its 15-point lead through a 10-4 run after a triple from Ronjay Buenafe made it 66-51. That run paved way for the Fuel Masters’ biggest lead, the mentioned 20-point bubble, at the 4:38 mark of the quarter.
The Hotshots need to sweep their remaining three assignments and hope that the teams above them lose games as well for them to be able to have a chance at cracking the top eight.
The scores:
PHOENIX 106—Phelps 45, Wilson W. 13, Baguio 11, Buenafe 11, Lee 8, Cruz 6, Lanete 4, Enciso 3, Urbiztondo 3, Miranda 2, Borboran 0, Caperal 0, Torres 0, Wilson J. 0.
STAR 93—Wright 29, Barroca 12, Simon 11, Sangalang 8, Garcia 7, Yap 7, Maliksi 5, Brondial 4, Mallari 4, Melton 2, Pascual 2, Pingris 2, Reavis 0.
Quarters: 32-19, 56-47, 77-72, 106-93
Game Today
(Batangas City):
5 p.m. – TNT KaTropa vs. San Miguel Beer