Phoenix Pulse grabbed control early and never let up, posting a 108-98 victory over Columbian to notch a third straight win and reclaim the solo lead in 2019 PBA Philippine Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
In a match-up between teams without dominant big men, the Fuel Masters ran every chance they got, playing fluidly throughout and holding sizeable leads to deal the hard-fighting Dyip their first loss in two games.
Their third straight victory sealed the franchise’s best-ever start for the Fuel Masters, who are playing with a mission this conference after losing a twice-to-beat privilege to Meralco in the Governors’ Cup quarterfinals just a couple of months back.
To its credit, Columbian proved a tough nut to crack, with the Dyip showing that their 124-118 upset of four-time defending champion San Miguel Beer two weeks ago was not a flash-in-the-pan performance.