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Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters 105
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Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 94
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Phoenix ousts Rain or Shine, books playoff seat

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In its second tourney in pro play, Phoenix Petroleum made the playoff round.

Prolific import Eugene Phelps and his teammates fought with great resolve as they upended a struggling Rain or Shine side, 105-94, to clinch the eighth and last berth in the PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.

Phelps sizzled with 40 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and one steak while Josh Urbiztondo frolicked with five triples and a total of 23 markers as Phoenix advanced to the Final Eight versus top seed TNT KaTropa.

As the eighth and last seed, the Fuel Masters, however, will need to beat the Tropang Texters two in a row to make the Final Four.

“We blew two earlier chances at the quarters. We’re so thankful to God we’re given so many chances to make it,” said Phoenix coach Ariel Vanguardia.

“It was a great feeling naisahan namin ang Rain or Shine. I copy a lot from coach Yeng (Guiao). He’s my idol. My whole program is copied from him,” Vanguardia also said.

Vanguardia lauded his veterans for carrying the team past the Elasto Painters.

“The whole week, I was hard on my vets. We’re winning games because of our rookies and import. Cyrus (Baguo), Willie (Wilson) and Josh (Urbiztondo) were struggling. Still, I told them I’m going to give them this game as we had to match Rain or Shine’s experience. I’m glad they delivered,” said Vanguardia.

Urbiztondo, Baguio and Wilson did deliver, playing key roles as they stopped the E-Painters’ remarkable playoff run.

Before this conference, Rain or Shine was the only team that had been at least in the Final Four of each of the last nine PBA tourneys.

The Commissioners Cup titlists saw the end of that streak with their three-point shooting deserting them in this KO match.

Phelps, Urbiztondo and their teammates simply outgunned the E-Painters.

The Fuel Masters terribly outshot the E-Painters from the three-point land to dominate the game.

Phelps, Urbiztondo, Baguio, JC Intal and Norbert Torres combined for seven triples as against the E-Painters’ just three on a woeful 20-point clip as Phoenix took the half at 54-38.

Keeping the momentum going, the Fuel Masters stretched their lead to 18 before ending the third period at 85-71.

Rain or Shine waged a fightback in the fourth but Phoenix showed great poise and staying power.

Phoenix enjoyed early double-digit spreads, leading by 13 at 29-16 in the opening quarter.

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