Mo Tautuaa had the tedious job of guarding June Mar Fajardo when his NorthPort Batang Pier faced off the San Miguel Beermen on Sunday evening. And he himself could not help but concede that the 6-foot-10 slotman had strutted his stuff.
The reigning five-time PBA Most Valuable Player dropped 40 points on just a single miss in the 15 shots he took, and collected 19 rebounds to power the Beermen to a 113-107 win – their fourth straight in the 2019 Philippine Cup.
“I mean, shoot. That’s the five-time defending MVP for a reason. He’s heavy, man. He’s big, he’s tall, he’s a big kid,” lamented the 6-foot-7 Tautuaa, whose 28-point, 13-rebound outing went for naught due to the stinging defeat.
“You just hope he has an off night, I guess.”
But more than guarding Fajardo, Tautuaa rued his side’s inability to close games.
The Batang Pier had actually had the upper hand over the Beermen when they started the match with an 18-4 rally. But San Miguel chipped away at their advantage and even stole the driver’s seat in the third, where they led by 15 points.
NorthPort still made one last push and threatened San Miguel as they knocked within two, 103-105, with 2:29 left to play. But Fajardo and Chris Ross prevented a meltdown and helped the Beermen come out with the win.
“We’re having trouble in that fourth quarter,” said Tautuaa, whose NorthPort absorbed their fifth straight loss and dropped to 2-5. “You could see in a hundred percent of our losses that we kinda lose our momentum in the fourth.
“Figuring out our rhythm and getting that extra push is all we’ll need. As far as I could tell right now, we need that last push.”
