Phoenix gets morale-boosting win vs Meralco

MANILA, Philippines — It’s the season to get together. And on a rare PBA affair Wednesday night at The Arena in San Juan, the Phoenix Fuel Masters for the first time after two gut-wrenching games, did so, snaring their first win after at the expense of the Meralco Bolts, 94-90.

“Kanina nga, nagusap usap kami. Baka maka-isang panalo lang, makalimutan na namin ‘yung talo namin na sobrang sama,” the Fuel Masters’ Cyrus Baguio said.

The 13-year PBA veteran teamed up with Mark Borboran and rookie Matthew Wright to lead Fuel Masters’ scoring onslaught against the Bolts.

Baguio tallied 11 markers to go with a rare stellar outing by Borboran, who registered 17. Wright emptied 17 of his 22 points in the payoff period to help put Meralco away for good.

The win comes as a refreshing turn for Phoenix, who were dealt one of the biggest losses of the season. Against a retooled Star Hotshots, they lost by 44 points. The next game, they fell in prey to TNT KaTropa by 19.

Coach Ariel Vanguardia bared they even had to spend a Christmas party last Sunday with low morale.

But now, they’ve got the much-needed clean slate before they take one last assignment in GlobalPort before the year ends.

“Medyo malungkot kasi alam mo yun, galing sa dalawang talo eh. Parang tahimik,” Baguio shared. “kung magsasaya ka hindi rin naman magandang tignan.”

“Hetong game na ‘to, siguro binuhos na namin lahat para sa pamilya namin, pang Christmas para makabawi kami,” he added.

“Itong game namin na ‘to, naging positive lang kami. Nagusap usap na kaya naming manalo,” Borboran chimed in. “Nag-hanap kami ng adjustment sa depensa. Medyo nagstruggle kami kasi dati, lalo na sa mga one-on-one situations.”

“Lahat kami ngayon nagstick sa sistemang magtulungan sa depensa. Ayun, nagwork naman,” he furthered.

“It’s hard to have fun and enjoy after coming off two bad losses. The last time we played well was the third quarter of the Mahindra game, so it has been a pretty long time, and we finally got the monkey off our back today,” Wright said.

“Nakita namin ‘yung solusyon para manalo kami uli. Sana magtuloy-tuloy na,” Baguio closed.

The Fuel Masters have improved their card to 3-3, above crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra, the Bolts, NLEx and the cellar-dwelling Mahindra Floodbuster.