PBA: Phoenix soars in 2nd half to stun Magnolia

BJ Johnson outplayed KJ Buffen in their PBA debuts. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

RODRIGUEZ, Rizal—Phoenix came out of its halftime huddle with renewed focus and turned things around to nip Magnolia, 98-86, to begin their PBA Governors' Cup campaign on Saturday night at the Ynares Center 2.

Letting the Hotshots score 32 points in the first quarter, the Fuel Masters stepped up in the second half, dropping 30 points in the third quarter before holding the Hotshots to just 33 points in the final 24 minutes.

BJ Johnson led Phoenix with 34 points, while Jason Perkins added 23 as they took advantage of KJ Buffen's early foul troubles that saw the Magnolia import already with three fouls in the first quarter and five with less than five and a half minutes left in the third.

Zav Lucero led Magnolia with 20 points, while Buffen had 15 before fouling out.

The scores:

Phoenix 98 -- Johnson 34, Perkins 23, Tio 11, Tuffin 7, Balunggay 6, Santos 6, Rivero 6, Delos Santos 3, Chua 2, Cullar 0, Reavis 0.

Magnolia 86 -- Lucero 20, Buffen 15, Lastimosa 14, Sangalang 13, Lee 8, Barroca 4, Alfaro 3, Andrada 3, Gomez De Liano 2, Koon 2, Jopia 2, Dela Rosa 0.

Quarterscores: 26-32, 49-53, 79-71, 98-86.