Phoenix import Donovan Smith dunks during a game against NorthPort in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.–PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines–Phoenix—for a change—kept it together on Tuesday night, taking down unbeaten NorthPort, 115-109, for its first victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Fuel Masters, buoyed by the solid outings of import Donovan Smith, Jason Perkins and RJ Jazul’s leadership finally ended their winless start and dealt the upstart Batang Pier their first loss at Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
“We were in a hole of 0-4. But you just have to give credit to the players, especially to our veterans, like on my left, captain RJ, for keeping things together,” Phoenix coach Jamike Jarin said.
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“Even with a slow start, they just kept on inspiring everybody to keep on working hard. This is big. We’re 1-4 right now and we’ll continue to climb to get the next win on Thursday and that’s gonna be against Converge,” he added as his charges finally learned from two meltdowns against San Miguel and Meralco.
Smith had 32 points, 20 of which came in a third-quarter surge that put Phoenix in control. He had 14 rebounds in the effort backstopped by Perkins’ 24, Kenneth Tuffins’ 15, and Jazul’s 14 points.
Import Kadeem Jack had 28 points while Arvin Tolentino added 23 to lead other locals Joshua Munzon, Evan Nelle, and Sidney Onwubere who all finished with at least 11 points each.
The Batang Pier made it interesting down the stretch, cutting the Fuel Masters lead to just five, 114-109, with about 20 ticks left. But the streaking squad sputtered, missing out on what could’ve been a franchise milestone six-game winning start to start the conference.