Phoenix Pulse waxed hot in the second half and subdued San Miguel, 108-90, in the Phoenix Super Basketball Tourney Wednesday at the Upper Deck Sports Center in Pasig City.
The Fuel Masters pulled away in the third quarter and kept their foot on the gas all the way to the end to rebound from their 87-98 loss to the Alaska Aces in the pocket tilt’s opener last Monday.
“Actuay hindi mo naman pwedeng gawing basis ‘to for the next conference but at least, sabi ko, something positive happened after the bad loss against Alaska,” said coach Louie Alas.
Matthew Wright showed the way in the victory with 19 points, on top of three assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
Jason Perkins made 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Justin Chua produced 16 points and 10 rebounds, JayR Reyes supplied 13 points, while Jorey Napoles chimed in 11 markers for Phoenix Pulse.
But more than the balanced attack, Alas was satisfied with how his chargers played defensively.
“Ang tuwang-tuwa ako, we played defensively for forty-eight minutes — good defense. Sa Alaska two quarters lang eh. Napagod ata, sobrang all over the court kami eh,” he said.
Phoenix Pulse only led by three with eight minutes remaining in the third canto, until Reyes sparked a 15-4 run that widened the gap to 14 points, 68-54, with 3:14 on the game clock.
San Miguel trimmed the deficit to nine in the payoff period but they could only get that close as the Fuel Masters scored eight straight to make it 89-72 with 7:42 to go to keep SMB at bay.
Phoenix Pulse went on to lead by as many as 25 points, 102-77, after Perkins’ trey with 5:01 left to play.
Arwind Santos had 17 points to lead the Beermen, who lost to the NLEX Road Warriors last Monday.
Both teams will play again on Friday, February 21, in the tourney’s final day. The Fuel Masters go head-to-head with the Road Warriors at 10 a.m. while the Beermen battle the Aces at 12 p.m.
The Scores:
Phoenix 108 — Wright 19, Perkins 17, Chua 15, Reyes 13, Napoles 11, Jazul 9, Intal 8, Heruela 6, Rios 5, Tansingco 5, Potts 0, Marcelino 0, Garcia 0.
San Miguel 90 — Santos 17, Ross 14, Zamar 10, Escoto 9, Romeo 8, Ganuelas-Rosser 6, Gamalinda 6, Tautuaa 5, Pessumal 5, Mamaril 4, Cabagnot 3, Comboy 3.
Quarterscores: 22-17, 41-39, 75-62, 108-90.
