Matthew Wright buried his only field goal in the dying seconds as Phoenix Super LPG rallied to frustrate Rain or Shine, 78-77, in the 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup Thursday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor.
The Fil-Canadian guard missed his first 14 shots before draining a turnaround jumper with 2.7 ticks to go, putting the exclamation point to a rousing Fuel Masters comeback from as much as 17 points down in the third canto.
Averaging 19.8 points prior, Wright was only held to four points. But he made up for it with 12 rebounds, five assists, and a steal in over 41 minutes.
“Matthew will win games for us, and he will lose games for us. No matter what, he will always take a shot,” said head coach Topex Robinson. “I don’t have to tell Matt to take a shot because no matter what, he will always take that shot.”
That clutch shot, though, wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the efforts of his teammates, led by bruising forward Jason Perkins and the seasoned backcourt combination of RR Garcia and Chris Banchero.
With Phoenix staring at a 15-point deficit with exactly six minutes remaining in the game, the trio helped manufacture 17 consecutive points — ended by a Garcia trey — to put them up, 76-74, with 1:11 on the clock.
Gabe Norwood was able to tie the game up by banking in a jumper moments later. The veteran guard, however, failed to bring his game-saving ways on the other end as Wright warded him off for the cold-blooded shot.
Wright, though, nearly cost the match for the Fuel Masters when he got called for a foul on Beau Belga with 1.7 seconds left. But they dodged a bullet when he missed his second free throw as Justin Chua secured the board.
“This is what the team’s about. We just have to not give up, keep finding ways to win, and guys just stuck together until that final buzzer,” said an elated Robinson as Phoenix collected their second win of the conference.
Perkins finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. RR Garcia also had 18 points, while Chris Banchero added 15 markers in the win.
“He (Wright) struggled a bit, [but] Jason took over, guys like RR Garcia took over, CB,” said Robinson.
Phoenix used Vic Manuel sparingly in the win, fielding him for just over three minutes. Robinson said that the 33-year-old was ‘under the weather,’ and that they rested him for Saturday’s clash with NLEX.
Belga and Javee Mocon made 17 points each to lead Rain or Shine, who actually enjoyed a 52-35 advantage early in the third chapter before the massive meltdown that handed them their third defeat in four games.
Norbert Torres added 12 points in the loss, which spoiled the comeback of two-time Most Valuable Player James Yap from an injury.
The Scores:
Phoenix Super LPG 78 — Perkins 18, Garcia 18, Banchero 14, Melecio 6, Pascual 5, Jazul 5, Muyang 4, Wright 4, Demusis 3, Manuel 1, Rios 0, Calisaan 0, Napoles 0, Chua 0.
Rain or Shine 77 –Mocon 17, Belga 17, Torres 12, Santillan 8, Wong 6, Johnson 5, Guinto 4, Norwood 3, Asistio 3, Caracut 2, Nambatac 0, Tolentino 0, Yap 0.
Quarterscores: 15-24, 35-43, 55-67, 78-77.
