Phoenix has picked up plenty of lessons in its heartbreaking losses early in the conference that head coach Jamike Jarin was just glad to finally see it pays off after his team stringed together two consecutive wins for the first time this season.

The Fuel Masters are making a run for a spot in the Magic 8 after improving to a 3-5 record – with the two wins coming off against the top two teams in the conference so far in NorthPort and Rain or Shine.

Phoenix has taken the role of giant-slayers in this conference as after snapping the five-game winning run of the league-pacing NorthPort for its breakthrough win, it also ended Rain or Shine’ five-game streak for their first back-to-back wins following another triumph against Terrafirma.

“Like what we always say it’s either you win or you learn and we did a lot of learning  from all of this at least it’s paying off right now so hopefully we get some more wins,” said Jarin after his team’s thrilling 93-91 win over ROS.

The streak certainly injected life to the campaign of the Fuel Masters, who opened the tournament on a 0-4 slate – half of it were heartbreakers where they actually had a legitimate chance at winning the game but they just couldn’t find a way to close it out.

Even with the struggles, however, the team kept its faith and just picked up the lessons from the defeats.

“It feels good, especially the last two conferences, we didn’t really perform up to our expectations but we know we are way better than we showed, especially this conference," said star guard Tyler Tio.

"I felt like we were there most of the games and it just came down to composure in the end game, some immaturity on my part and the younger players as well," he added. “I think that’s crucial that we went through that early so that we can mature for the second half of the season and hopefully make a playoff push."

Up next for Phoenix is Magnolia – another team that is jockeying for position at the lower half of the Top 8 positions. Not only that the Fuel Masters have the chance to extend their win streak to three in that game but its outcome could also make serious implications to their chances down the road.

“We’re happy but we can't be satisfied kasi we had chances to have a better record so I blame myself for that. Like I always say, the most important game is the next game so as soon as we get out of our dugout we need to rest our bodies and prepare for the next game against Magnolia,” stressed Jarin.