Down in the ashes

Phoenix Pulse’s Matthew Wright rued missing a golden opportunity to square their semifinal series with San Miguel Beer in the PBA Philippine Cup on Monday.

Who wouldn’t? The Fuel Masters did everything right for most of the game before falling in a 92-82 decision that now rests heavily on the shoulders of the tournament’s top seed.

“We looked like Phoenix [in Game 2],” Wright said. “[In Game 1], we weren’t nearly as aggressive, we didn’t pressure the ball and we didn’t cause as much turnovers. [In Game 2], we actually played our game.”

Well, not all of Game 2. Certainly not in the final 12 minutes.

“We just crumbled, you know?” he told reporters with a long and somber face after falling into a 0-2 hole against the four-time defending champions.

“I felt like we played well—especially in the first half. I felt like we got what we wanted to do on defense, on June Mar (Fajardo). We were clicking.”

Wright, who led all of Phoenix’s scorers with 16, said that while the Fuel Masters played their brand of basketball, they seemed to have reverted to their old form—to that team that folds whenever the game enters a crucial point.

“The game is not over after three quarters. We just couldn’t pull it out in the end,” he said.

And everyone knows the importance of playing four quarters against San Miguel Beer. Armed with a rich championship pedigree, the Beermen hardly worried after falling down by 12 early and even losing key big man Christian Standhardinger in the second quarter after he was ejected due to a flagrant foul 2.

“They know what to do,” said Beermen coach Leo Austria.

The Beermen began chipping away at the Fuel Masters’ lead—and control of the match—in the third period, where Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter and Terrence Romeo took turns burying crucial baskets. And when the fourth quarter came, the Beermen zoomed ahead.

It’s something Wright and his teammates will reflect on as the league plunges into a Holy Week break.

“The break’s going to be a break,” he said. “I can’t say whether it will be good or bad. All I can say is that we need to go to church or something. We definitely need this Holy Week.”