Mga laro ngayon:
Ynares Sports Arena – Pasig
3 p.m. – NorthPort vs NLEX
6 p.m. – San Miguel vs Alaska
SUMANDIG ang Phoenix Super LPG kay Matthew Wright upang maitakas ang pahirapang 103-100 panalo kontra Terrafirma sa pagsisimula ng kanilang kampanya sa PBA Governors Cup kahapon sa Ynares Sports Arena sa Pasig.
Makaraang maipasok ang dalawa lamang sa 10 tira mula sa field sa unang tatlong quarters, nakuha ng Fil-Canadian gunner ang kanyang rhythm at kumana ng 5-of-10 sa final frame para sa 13 sa kanyang 17 points, na sinamahan ng game-high 10 assists.
Pagkatapos ng laro ay sinabi ni Wright na nakihamok ang kanyang koponan sa “early struggles” laban sa malaki ang inihusay na koponan na umabante ng hanggang 17 puntos, 67-50, sa third quarter at sa 90-77, may 7:41 ang nalalabi, na patunay kung paano ito nag-mature bilang isang unit.
“Coach Topex (Robinson), he just kept telling us to battle through it,” sabi ni Wright.
“Terrafirma’s a good team. They made a lot of improvements on their roster, they have some championship pedigree. So they’re not the same Terrafirma of the past.
“They came out and surprised us a little bit. But we were able to just lock down defensively. That was it, just play defense, there’s not secret to it, just staying positive.”
Sinusugan ni Robinson ang mga pahayag ni Wright. “We just kept on playing,” aniya.
“We just kept on grinding it with them. We just don’t want to give up. Like what Matt said, just keep on playing, take chances. I guess we just went down to our defense and defense really helped our offense.”
Nakatuwang ni Wright si Jason Perkins na may 18 points, gayundin si Paul Harris na kumana ng 24 pointa at 15 rebounds.
The Dyip still didn’t give up so easily and had the chance to at least inch closer after Alex Cabagnot’s drive made it a two-point game and Perkins muffed two freebies of his own, still 6.5 ticks left.
Nanguna para sa Dyip si Antonio Hester na may 28 points at 16 rebounds, subalit nalimitahan sa anim na puntos lamang sa final period. Nagdagdag si Juami Tiongson ng 20 points at nakalikom si Alex Cabagnot, kinuha ng koponan mula sa San Miguel Beer noong nakaraang buwan, ng 12 points, 7 rebounds at five assists subalit gumawa ng 7 turnovers.
Iskor:
Phoenix Super LPG (103) – Harris 24, Perkins 18, Banchero 18, Wright 17, Jazul 9, Muyang 6, Manganti 4, Garcia 3, Pascual 2, Chua 2, Melecio 0, Tamsi 0, Rios 0.
Terrafirma (100) – Hester 28, Tiongson 20, Cabagnot 12, Ramos 9, Cahilig 8, Adams 6, Ganuelas-Rosser 5, Celda 5, Gabayni 3, Camson 2, Pascual 2, Batiller 0, Balagasay 0.
QS: 30-25; 42-52; 67-77; 103-100.
