PHOENIX Super LPG demolished undermanned Terrafirma, 97-74, to barge into the win column after two losses in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Jason Perkins scattered 17 points and four other players also scored in double figures for the Fuel Masters, who established as much as 35-point lead over the Dyip.

Matthew Wright added a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists while Javee Jvee Mocon contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix.

Sean Anthony, who was acquired by Phoenix in a trade with NorthPort last November, had nine points and 12 assists in his Phoenix debut.

“As much as possible we don’t want to go deep into that bottom of the standings, so it’s something big for us,” said coach Topex Robinson in an interview posted at the official PBA website.

“We know how deadly the Dyip are if we take it easy on them and I think one thing that worked for us is we really clamped down on defense and let our offense take care of itself,” he added.

Joseph Gabayni finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for Terrafirma, which missed the services of Isaac Go, Ed Daquioag and Eric Camson.

Terrafirma standouts Juami Tiongson and Joshua Munzon, however, were held to only nine and six points, respectively.

Meanwhile, Meralco stakes its clean slate when it meets TNT Tropang Giga in the featured encounter of another doubleheader.

The Bolts, who won their first two games against Phoenix Super LPG (109-98) and the Converge (90-74) are slightly favored aganst the Tropang Giga at 7:15 p.m. today.

The Tropang Giga are 2-2 while waiting for the return of Fil-Am gunner Mikey Williams.

They won over the Magnolia Hotshots (78-72) and the FiberXers (86-83) but lost to the Blackwater Bossing (78-85) and the NLEX Road Warriors (89-90).

The scores:

Phoenix (97) — Perkins 17, Wright 11, Serrano 10, Jazul 10, Mocon 10, Anthony 9, Melecio 8, Tio 8, Porter 5, Lalata 5, Garcia 4, Muyang 0, Rios 0.
Terrafirma (74) — Gabayni 16, Ramos 14, Calvo 9, Tiongson 9, Munzon 6, Gomez de Liano 5, Mina 3, Balagasay 2, Grospe 0, Tumalip 0, Enriquez 0.
Quarterscores: 18-14, 44-24, 71-46, 97-74.

Games Saturday:

(Ynares Center, Antipolo)
5:15 p.m. — NorthPort vs. Blackwater
7:15 p.m. — Meralco vs TNT