The Phoenix Fuelmasters were not only maintaining the number one spot during the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup elimination round, but they have also made history by entering into the semifinals after booting out the Alaska Aces, 91-76, last Sunday, April 7.
Jason Perkins, who is now on his second year as a professional, led the way with his career-high of 31 points for Phoenix, while Calvin Abueva had a double-double at 12 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists against his former team. Matthew Wright also contributed double digits at 14 points. For Alaska, it was JV Casio who provided the most for his team at 19 points, while Simon Enciso and Jeron Teng chipped 15 points and 12 points respectively. However, their performance could have been affected by just recently entering the quarterfinals after defeating NLEX in a do-or-die game last Friday, April 5.
Phoenix head coach Louie Alas says his team is “more than happy” because of this turnout, sharing in Filipino, “We’re in the semis already; first time in franchise history. And this is the first win of Phoenix in three years.” However, Alas admitted that he still has sympathy for Alaska, where he was a deputy to coaches Luigi Trillo and Alex Compton, admitting, “We wanted to win but not at the expense of Alaska. Especially against Coach Alex. You guys know how he’s like a brother to me.” He added, “But, we need to win because we’re doing a job and that is to win and beat Alaska.”
Speaking up for his teammates, Wright also reveals their mindset about making history, explaining, “It feels good to finally get that monkey off our back. We haven’t gotten a playoff win since I got here, or ever. I’m happy that I’m part of history. Even if this is small, this means a lot for our franchise,” adding, “We got to beat the best teams to win