Wright for the job for Phoenix

MANILA, Philippines – Matthew Wright outgunned Jonathan Grey in a fiery shootout between two rookies and Phoenix Petroleum completed a stirring fightback from 12 points down to beat Meralco, 94-90, and move back to the Top Eight in the PBA Philippine Cup at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan last night.

Minus their injury-hit top guns JC Intal and Willy Wilson, Wright took charge for the Fuel Masters, stepping up hard in the payoff period as the team snapped a two-game losing skein and hit the .500 mark anew at 3-3.

Wright, Phoenix Petroleum’s Gilas pick, sizzled with 22 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists in the closely fought match, drawing a crowd that included former NBA player and coach Byron Scott, who’s in the country for vacation.

Grey, a rookie from St. Benilde, also dished out a spectacular performance, playing like a grizzled warrior but ran out of firepower in the crunch, allowing the Fuel Masters to steal the game.

Missing all of their last four field-goal attempts in the last 1:23 of play, the Bolts, losing finalists in the last Governors Cup, went down reeling with a third loss in five starts.

Blackwater built momentum in the third period and played tough all the way to the finish as it waylaid GlobalPort, 99-91, to grab second place behind titleholder San Miguel Beer (4-1) later in the night.

Mac Belo, John Pinto, Arthur dela Cruz and Ronjay Buenafe delivered the goods for the Elite who improved to 4-2 and inched ahead of the Batang Pier, the Alaska Milk Aces, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the TNT KaTropa Texters who were left at joint third at 3-2.

Before this tourney, Blackwater had never chalked up more than three wins in any conference it has played in the pro league.