Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Rookie Matthew Wright found his touch late and Phoenix came back to beat Meralco, 94-90, in the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Wright fired 17 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, where the shorthanded Fuel Masters rallied from double digits.
“I’m just relieved. We lost last two games by an average of 31 points. It was like sleepless nights for all of us,” said Phoenix head coach Ariel Vanguardia, whose squad improved to 3-3.
“But I just challenged the guys. Halfway point of the conference, we just have to be thankful that we’re 2-3 because the way we’re playing we could have been 0-5.”
The Fuel Masters played without their two key veterans in JC Intal and Willie Wilson.
“The guys stepped up with JC and Willie out tonight,” said Vanguardia. “Willie had amoebiasis even during our game against Star and he suffered from numbness due to complications with his meds while JC has a bruised rib.”
The Bolts, who led by as much as 12, 71-59, slipped to 2-3 despite drawing a career-high 24 points from rookie Jonathan Grey.
Wright, the Fil-Canadian swingman, scored 10 points inside the last four minutes including Phoenix’s last three points all coming at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds.