3 days ago
PBA: Phoenix spoils Calvin Abueva's NorthPort debut as Jason Perkins waxes hot
Jason Perkins got hot right in the payoff period as he guided Phoenix to a morale-boosting 118-107 win against NorthPort in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the PhilSports Arena.
The veteran big man scored 13 of his total output in the fourth, including three booming three-pointers that basically sealed the victory for the Fuel Masters. With the win, Phoenix halted a four-game slide to improve to 3-7 while the Batang Pier slipped to 1-8.
In a battle of two also-ran squads, Phoenix still left it all out on the court and took command of the match almost all game long before NorthPort made a desperate run to end the third down by just two, 82-80.
Perkins, alongside Ken Tuffin, had an exchange of points with newly-traded forward Calvin Abueva and Joshua Munzon that saw Phoenix building a 100-91 cushion.
Perkins then took over from that point, burying a pair of triples to extend their lead to 14 with 3:28 to go in the game, 109-95. The former La Salle standout then completed a layup and a jumper for a 113-95 advantage while JC Cullar, Raffy Verano, and Ricci Rivero finished it off with trips to the charity line.
Perkins posted 26 points on 4-of-7 shooting from downtown while also grabbing eight rebounds and four assists while Kai Ballungay churned out 17 markers, nine boards, one dime, and one block to deliver their third win in 10 games.
Tuffin and Rivero chipped in 14 points each as RJ Jazul chimed in with 10.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
