Tio, Soyud clutch as Phoenix survives SMB explosion
Published May 24, 2023 02:33 pm
Tyler Tio and Raoul Soyud came through with big plays down the stretch as Phoenix survived the second half explosion of Terrence Romeo and San Miguel, 106-101 to open its campaign in the PBA on Tour on Wednesday, May 24 at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
Squandering a huge 17-point first half lead, the Fuel Masters found themselves down by two inside the final two minutes before Soyud and Tio came in to the rescue just in time to turn back a fiery fourth quarter onslaught from the Beermen. Soyud completed a huge defensive stop, blocking Rodney Brondial before Phoenix located Tio, who nailed a booming right wing triple in the next possession to put Phoenix ahead for good, 102-101. The Fuel Masters held on to their defense in the next play before JJ Alejandro threaded a beautiful bounce pass in the middle of the Beermen defense to Soyud, who then scored a clutch under goal stab to give his team some more breathing space, 103-101, with 26 seconds to go. It was total import for Phoenix which had eight players scoring in double-figures led by the suddenly offensive-minded Simon Camacho, who finished with 15 points apart from his eight rebounds. Tio contributed 14 points, Larry Muyang and RR Garcio with 11 points apiece while Soyud, Alejandro, Sean Manganti and Kurt Lojera finished with 10 points each. The balanced scoring proved to be enough for Phoenix to survive a fiery offensive display from Romeo, who put up his best performance since returning from a slew of injuries with 27 points. Robbie Herndon also erupted for 21 points – 13 came in the third frame when SMB cut the lead down to just three, 81-78, before Phoenix responded with a strong closeout to the quarter to reestablish an 11-point lead, 89-78 advantage heading into the final frame. The Beermen, behind Mo Tautuaa who dropped 10 of 16 points in the final frame, still rallied back and even took a 101-98 lead with 2:23 to go. The efforts however went down the drain as even whe SMB still had the chance to come close after Phoenix reclaimed the lead, the three point attempts from Herndon and Jericho Cruz both came up dry in the end.
*Tyler Tio shows nerve of steel, draining the go-ahead triple against SMB (PBA Images)
*Squandering a huge 17-point first half lead, the Fuel Masters found themselves down by two inside the final two minutes before Soyud and Tio came in to the rescue just in time to turn back a fiery fourth quarter onslaught from the Beermen. Soyud completed a huge defensive stop, blocking Rodney Brondial before Phoenix located Tio, who nailed a booming right wing triple in the next possession to put Phoenix ahead for good, 102-101. The Fuel Masters held on to their defense in the next play before JJ Alejandro threaded a beautiful bounce pass in the middle of the Beermen defense to Soyud, who then scored a clutch under goal stab to give his team some more breathing space, 103-101, with 26 seconds to go. It was total import for Phoenix which had eight players scoring in double-figures led by the suddenly offensive-minded Simon Camacho, who finished with 15 points apart from his eight rebounds. Tio contributed 14 points, Larry Muyang and RR Garcio with 11 points apiece while Soyud, Alejandro, Sean Manganti and Kurt Lojera finished with 10 points each. The balanced scoring proved to be enough for Phoenix to survive a fiery offensive display from Romeo, who put up his best performance since returning from a slew of injuries with 27 points. Robbie Herndon also erupted for 21 points – 13 came in the third frame when SMB cut the lead down to just three, 81-78, before Phoenix responded with a strong closeout to the quarter to reestablish an 11-point lead, 89-78 advantage heading into the final frame. The Beermen, behind Mo Tautuaa who dropped 10 of 16 points in the final frame, still rallied back and even took a 101-98 lead with 2:23 to go. The efforts however went down the drain as even whe SMB still had the chance to come close after Phoenix reclaimed the lead, the three point attempts from Herndon and Jericho Cruz both came up dry in the end.