PHOENIX Super LPG leaned on the very capable back of James Dickey III to snap out of a two-game slide with a 125-108 domination of Blackwater on Friday, April 17, 2026, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Montalban.
Dickey finished with 27 points, 26 rebounds, and five assists, powering a sustained charge by the Fuel Masters that led by as much as 28 points twice — the last at 116-88, halfway through the final canto.
“I love his energy today, his motor was great. He rested yesterday, he was a bit sore and we just wanted to make sure he was fresh,” said Phoenix coach Charles Tiu of Dickey, who also had three steals and three blocks to offset his five turnovers.
“But give him all the credit, he was solid protecting the basket, he was pushing the pace, setting up a lot of guys like KT (Kenneth Tuffin) for open looks with all those handoffs,” added Tiu.
Jason Perkins added 25 points, while Tuffin chipped in 20 and seven boards as Phoenix’s bench outscored their Blackwater counterparts, 66-29 to help the team put its back-to-back losses to NLEX and Barangay Ginebra behind them and improve their record to 4-3.
“It just feels nice to get back with a win. A two-game losing streak’s tough, the morale’s down and we’re just happy we found a way to win,” said Tiu.
“I still think we can get better. I’m upset with our last two losses against NLEX and Ginebra. I still feel… that we could have won those games so still disappointed there. But, of course, you can’t complain na at this point we have a winning record,” added Tiu.
The loss was Blackwater’s fourth straight, dropping it to 1-6 and putting it in grave danger of missing the quarterfinals.
Robert Upshaw delivered a second straight 36-point game and Sedrick Barefield scored 27, but the Bossing clearly missed the services of injured Dalph Panopio (fractured finger), Jed Mendoza (calf strain), and RK Ilagan (hamstring strain).
Seldom-used Paul Zamar and BJ Andrade tried to fill the void with 14 and eight points, respectively, but Blackwater was consistently outplayed from midway through the opening quarter onward.
The Bossing also struggled from deep. After shooting just 2-of-25 from three-point range in a 94-99 loss to TNT last Tuesday, they went an even worse 1-of-17 in this game.
The Scores:
Phoenix 125 – Dickey 27, Perkins 25, Tuffin 20, Tio 14, Rivero 13, Santos 6, Nelle 4, Ynot 4, Caperal 3, Ando 3, Delos Santos 3, Gozum 2, Daves 1, Cullar 0.
Blackwater 108 – Upshaw 36, Barefield 27, Zamar 14, Andrade 8, Tratter 6, Murrell 6, Una 4, Jopia 3, David 2, Altamirano 2, Escoto 0, Cruz-Dumont 0, Guinto 0, Mallilin 0.
Quarters: 34-26, 67-56, 97-79, 125-108. / PBA.PH