Phoenix sent San Miguel Beer to a 0-2 start in the PBA Philippine Cup after coming away with a 109-103 victory on Sunday night at Ynares Center here.
Heroes were plenty as the Fuel Masters displayed steely resolve despite the Beermen rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit to eventually hand Willy Wilson his first win at the helm. The Fuel Masters improved to 1-1 after opening the conference with a 93-78 loss to the TNT Tropang 5G two nights earlier in Rodriguez.
Ricci Rivero topscored with 16 points while new additions Evan Nelle, Yousef Taha and Prince Caperal had their share of contributions on both ends for Phoenix, which led by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter before staving off a late rally by SMB.
Taha did the yeoman’s job of containing June Mar Fajardo, though the nine-time Most Valuable Player was still able to come up with 19 points and 22 rebounds. But the Beermen dropped their second in a row for the first time since the 2021-22 Governors’ Cup. It is also their first 0-2 record in the all-Filipino since the 2009-10 season. Don Trollano and CJ Perez added 18 and 17 points, respectively, for San Miguel, which pulled within four a couple of times down the stretch.
Phoenix’s next game is on Oct. 22 against NLEX at Ninoy Aquino Stadium, while San Miguel tries to finally get on the winning column next Sunday in a faceoff with Rain or Shine in Rodriguez.