Kenneth Tuffin saved the night as Phoenix stunned a depleted Rain or Shine, 93-91, to win twice in a row for the first time in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup, Saturday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Personifying hustle, the lefty winger was at the right place at the right time and followed up Jason Perkins’ missed jumper with seven-tenths of a second left, and a Deon Thompson airball on the other end would seal the W.
Big thanks to his heroics, the Fuel Masters stopped the Elasto Painters’ five-game winning streak and improved to 3-5 to fan their quarterfinal hopes.
“It’s a big win,” offered head coach Jamike Jarin in the postgame. “Any win in this conference, in this league, is very big. This is the first winning streak of Phoenix in this conference so we’re just happy and very proud.”
Donovan Smith top-scored with 22 points and 10 rebounds while main man Tyler Tio produced 16 points as they led Phoenix in beating another top team this conference after previously downing NorthPort last December 17.
RR Garcia notched a rare double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Perkins and RJ Jazul added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Thompson, meanwhile, also had 22 with 13 boards to lead a RoS side that missed the services of Felix Lemetti and Caelan Tiongson due to injuries.
Despite that, the Elasto Painters were still a major threat most especially when they tied the game up at 91-all with 52.7 seconds left from down nine, thanks to successive treys by Adrian Nocum, Santi Santillan, and Andrei Caracut.
They even had the opportunity to take the lead back but Caracut missed badly from way out to conclude what was an empty possession, in which he tried to shoot over the towering Smith only to hit the backboard.
And then came Tuffin’s big play, soon leaving Rain or Shine a dejected bunch as it witnessed the end of its five-game winning streak and fell to 5-2.
Santillan finished with 19 points and five rebounds. Nocum produced 16 points and six rebounds while Clarito chipped in 11 markers in the loss.
The Scores:
Phoenix 93 – Smith 22, Tio 16, Garcia 14, Perkins 12, Jazul 11, Ballungay 8, Tuffin 8, Daves 2, Verano 0, Muyang 0, Alejandro 0, Camacho 0, Ular 0, Salado 0.
Rain or Shine 91 – Thompson 22, Santillan 19, Nocum 16, Clarito 11, Caracut 8, Datu 7, Belga 5, Demusis 3, Malonzo 0, Asistio 0, Ildefonso 0, Norwood 0
Quarterscores: 17-18, 50-46, 70-71, 93-91.
