Fuel Masters repel struggling FiberXers

MANILA, Philippines -- The Phoenix Fuel Masters survived a scare and pulled away late against Converge, 113-107, Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, dealing the FiberXers their seventh straight loss in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Jason Perkins had a monster performance for the Fuel Masters, dropping a double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds on 10-of-15 field goal shooting.

After trailing by as much as 18 points, 73-91, in the opening minute of the fourth quarter with a three-point play by Ricci Rivero, Converge was able to inch closer and closer.

The FiberXers were able to cut the lead to just three, 98-101, with a layup by Justin Arana.

In the succeeding possessions, Ken Tuffin and King Caralipio exchanged layups to maintain the three-point lead, 103-100, with 4:04 remaining.

The Fuel Masters then unleashed a 10-2 run to push the lead back to double digits, 111-100, with 2:55 to go as Ken Tuffin took over late.

Alec Stockton tried to tow Converge back with a 3-pointer from straightaway to cut the lead to eight, 111-103, with 1:38 remaining.

Javee Mocon, however, answered with a layup for the dagger, 113-103.

Stockton made layups down the stretch for the FiberXers, but these were not enough to mount another comeback.

The two teams were able to tie the game up at 50 going into the second half.

Phoenix, led by Rivero, then started to keep their distance and outscored Converge 36 to 23 in the third quarter to go up by 13, 86-73.

Five quick points by Jjay Alejandro and Rivero gave Phoenix the 91-73 lead.

The FiberXers, though, went down swinging, unleashing a 15-2 run that cut the lead to just five, 88-93, with 8:20 left, setting the stage for the finish.

“Human nature says that you get a little comfortable when you have a lead and it happens to almost every single team. We’re no different, so it happened to us,” Phoenix assistant coach Willie Wilson said.

“Once we were able to grasp that we were falling into that little hole, we got out of it, we got back to our identity.”

A total of six players, including Perkins, scored in double digits for Phoenix.

Rivero added 17 for the Fuel Masters while Tuffin had 16. Mocon and Matthew Daves finished with 11 apiece, and Alejandro had 10 markers.

Arana and Stockton carried the load for Converge, finishing with 32 and 31 points respectively, but it was not enough to finally notch a breakthrough win.

Phoenix broke their two-game losing streak and rose to 2-4 in the season. Converge is still at the bottom of the standings with a 0-7 slate.