San Miguel falls to Phoenix in PBA on Tour opener
Phoenix survived a late fightback by San Miguel and pulled off a 106-101 victory, Wednesday night in the 2023 PBA on Tour at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig Cty.
Tyler Tio drained a clutch three-pointer with 48 seconds left on the game clock to give the Fuel Masters back the lead, 102-101, after the Jamike Jarin-mentored squad surrendered it to the Beermen during the closing minutes of the final frame. Raul Soyud then gave his team more breathing room with an easy deuce while newcomer Daniel Atienza canned two freebies for the final score.
Simon Camacho led Phoenix with 15 points, 8 boards and a block in 20 minutes of action.
“This San Miguel is well-coached. Even if you lead by a big margin, you know they are going to come back,” said Jarin shortly after the match.
“Even though most of their players are not here, it’s still a San Miguel team. It’s a winning culture and you know they will come back. Good thing for us, we were able to hold on,” he added.
Tio finished with 14 points highlighted by 4-of-7 sniping from beyond the arc while Larry Muyang and RR Garcia added 11 points apiece. The trio of Soyud, JJ Alejandro and Kurt Lojera chipped in 10 markers each.
Terrence Romeo paced San Miguel with a game-high 27 points on 12-of-23 shooting with 3-of-6 coming from 3-point country. The 31-year-old former Gilas Pilipinas guard also had 5 rebounds and 7 assists in 38 minutes of play. He, however, also committed 7 of his team’s 17 turnovers.
Robbie Herndon also had a significant performance with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Moala Tautuaa scored 16. Jericho Cruz and Rodney Brondial added 12 markers each with the latter also contributing 10 rebounds.
The scores:
Phoenix Super LPG 106 – Camacho 15, Tio 14, Muyang 11, Garcia 11, Alejandro 10, Manganti 10, Soyud 10, Lojera 10, Lalata 7, Jazul 6, Atienza 2.
San Miguel 101 – Romeo 27, Herndon 21, Tautuaa 16, Cruz 12, Brondial 12, Baclao 6, Bulanadi 4, Lee 3, Saldua 0, Faundo 0.
Quarterscores: 37-17, 61-44, 89-78, 106-101.
