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| Phoenix Fuel reinforcement Eugene Phelps pulls up for a jumper over three Kia players in this piece of PBA action. |
By Ricky Manliguis
MANILA—Eugene Phelps continued his
monstrous ways, while RJ Jazul ignited a lategame push as Phoenix Petroleum
made its presence felt right away, thwarting Kia Picanto, 118-105, in the
opening match of the season-ending PBA Governors’ Cup Wednesday at the Smart
Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Phelps, back from his tour of duty in Puerto
Rico, powered his way anew with33 points and 14 rebounds for the Fuel Masters,
which snapped its three-game losing streak dating back to last conference.
Jazul, on the other hand, fired 18
points with half of them coming from a pivotal run that extinguished the
Picanto’s endgame push. His triple on the 5:43 mark of the final canto gave
Phoenix a 100-86 lead for the icing on the cake.
The boys of Coach Ariel Vanguardia
played without star guardMatthew Wright, who is still in Taiwan with the Gilas
Pilipinas squad seeing action in the Jones Cup.
“Good start for us. We broke our losing streak from last
conference which started with the Mahindra loss. Payback nga eh,” Vanguardia said.
JC Intal had 19 points forPhoenix, while Joseph Eriobu and
Cyrus were the other double-digit providers with 12 and 11 in that order.
Come- backing Markeith Cummings paced the Picanto with 31
points and 10,while Bong Galanza chipped in 15.
The scores:
Phoenix 118 – Phelps 33, Intal 19, Jazul 18, Eriobu 12, Baguio 11, Dehesa 9, Alolino 8, W. Wilson 4, Kramer 2, J. Wilson 2, Lanete 0, Hayes 0, Borboran 0, Miranda 0.
KIA 105 – Cummings 31, Galanza 15, Jaime 11, Revilla 10, Paniamogan 9, Caperal 8, Khobuntin 7, Teng 5, Corpuz 4, Celda 3, Camson 2, Ballesteros 0, Elorde 0, Salva 0.
Quarters: 33-24, 57-48, 83-75, 118-105.
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