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Matthew Wright was present in Phoenix. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines – Phoenix returned from a mid-tournament shortage and burned Magnolia, 91-84, for its third PBA Philippine Cup victory on Friday at the University of Angeles Foundation.
The Fuel Masters, who lost two in a row, had an offensive nightmare in the first three quarters, but came back alive in the fourth beating the Hotshots 31-13 in the final period.
Magnolia held a 62-45 lead midway through the third, but Phoenix slowly cut the deficit and finally edged closer to nine late in the quarter before unleashing a heat wave in the fourth.
The Fuel Masters shot 12 of 18 from the floor and 6 of 9 from 3-point range while limiting Magnolia to 5 of 22 shots.
JC Intal finished off with a booming 3-pointer to cap off a ridiculous 22-0 run by Phoenix for the team’s 89-80 lead with 1:39 to play.
“You could see from the timeouts that I let them sit down and get some air,” said Phoenix head coach Topex Robinson. “These are mature young people who are willing to play and we gave them the freedom to innovate and try things.”
“They’re going to hit those shots, and JC was amazing and he never gave up.”
Matthew Wright had his usual offensive help with 23 points with seven rebounds and four assists, while Jason Perkins had a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Chris Banchero scored 20 points to lead the Hotshots who fell to their third straight loss and a 1-3 record.
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