Mo Tautua’a was the unlikely hero San Miguel needed to escape the upset-hungry Terrafirma, 113-110, and remain unbeaten in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup, Wednesday evening at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The seasoned big man finished with a season-high 24 points, including the Beermen’s last five points to repel the Dyip for their fifth win in as many games, in the process moving a win away from a quarterfinal seat.
“Mo’s a great talent and Mo knows that. He just has to play his game and just focus on what he has to do and Mo will be Mo,” said coach Jorge Gallent as Tautua’a scored 17 of his points in the fourth quarter.
He first nailed a triple to stretch their lead to four, 111-107, with less than two minutes to go, before scoring from underneath for the eventual count with 15.1 seconds left to ward off the opposition’s charge led by Isaac Go.
It was Go and Tautua’a who had the unlikeliest of shootouts in the final minutes, but the latter had the last laugh after the former missed the potential game-tying three-pointer from the top of the key as time expired.
“We needed stops in the end, and Mo did a great job switching to Juami [Tiongson], and defending him well. That’s why we won,” said Gallent.
CJ Perez top-scored for San Miguel with a game-high 25 points, six rebounds, and five assists. June Mar Fajardo fell just short of a 20-20 outing as he finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds, along with six assists.
Terrence Romeo supplied 16 points for the Beermen, which are off to their first 5-0 start since last season’s Governors’ Cup.
They will shoot for their sixth win in a row against the struggling Converge on April 19, Friday, 4:30 p.m. at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Juami Tiongson finished with 24 points to lead Terrafirma, who almost caught another big fish after stunning Barangay Ginebra the last time out.
The Dyip appeared to be on their way to doing so when Go gave them a 103-102 lead but Fajardo’s quick response gave SMB the lead for good, leaving Coach Johnedel Cardel’s wards playing catch-up the rest of the way.
Go finished with 21 points on seven triples, both career-highs, together with seven rebounds. Javi Gomez de Liano also had 21 and seven.
Stephen Holt flirted with a triple-double as he finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists for the Dyip, which fell to 4-4 after the loss.
Terrafirma will try to get back on track against the streaking Rain or Shine on Saturday, April 13, 3 p.m. at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
The Scores:
San Miguel 113 – Perez 25, Tautua’a 24, Fajardo 20, Romeo 16, Cruz 9, Manuel 7, Lassiter 6, Trollano 5, Ross 1, Enciso 0, Teng 0.
Terrafirma 110 – Tiongson 24, Go 21, Gomez de Liano 21, Holt 18, Carino 9, Cahilig 6, Sangalang 5, Ramos 4, Alolino 2, Olivario 0, Calvo 0.
Quarterscores: 24-26, 45-54, 78-75, 113-110.
