MANILA – Phoenix Super LPG survived a frantic Meralco comeback, hanging on for a nail-biting 98-97 win after seeing its 15-point lead evaporate in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
Ken Tuffin sank two free throws with 13 seconds left, giving the Fuel Masters the decisive points as they improved to 2-0 atop Group B.
Meralco missed import Jordon Varnado due to a hamstring injury.
“This is a game where somehow we got lucky with Meralco not having an import, and we didn’t want to let it slip away,” Phoenix coach Charles Tiu said after his first win against his former team. “I have to give credit to them. They still put up a tough fight. We played a good team which is always a contender, and it’s nice to get the win.”
Tuffin, named Best Player of the Game, finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.
“Meralco playing without an import was no excuse for us not to come out and play with urgency,” Tuffin said.
The Bolts had a shot to steal victory, but CJ Cansino’s layup off defender Robert Johnson III missed its mark. Phoenix secured the board and ran out the clock to follow up its 98-86 conference-opening win over Magnolia last Saturday.
Johnson paced the Fuel Masters with 26 points, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Ricci Rivero added 20, while Jason Perkins chipped in 13.
Cansino led five Bolts in double figures with 18. Brandon Bates had a 14-point, 15-rebound night. JL delos Santos also came up big defensively, swatting two crucial Chris Newsome drives in crunch time to help seal the Phoenix win.
Converge 105, Terrafirma 103
In the first game, Converge also escaped with a close 105-103 win over Terrafirma for a similar 2-0 card in Group A, behind idle leader NLEX (3-0).
Justin Arana notched 31 points and 10 rebounds, while Justine Baltazar delivered a block that prevented a potential game-tying short stab by Aljon Mariano.
Juan Gomez de Liano added 19 points, Baltazar tossed in 16 points and 14 rebounds and Archie Concepcion and MJ Garcia both came off the bench with a combined 25 points to help make up for an off-form Jalen Hudson, who scored only two points on 1-of-14 shooting.
The Dyip are now at 1-2 despite the 40 points, 11 rebounds and five assists from Justin Strings. Juami Tiongson added 17 points and CJ Catapusan had 11 for Terrafirma. / PBA / PNA
