The San Miguel Beermen limited the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to just 15 points in the final period to pull off a 129-116 crushing on Friday in the 2023 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Mo Tautuaa struck with 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth period, to help carry the Beermen to a 9-2 win-loss record at the end of the preliminaries.
Tautuaa’s back-to-back baskets in the last 8:23 allowed the Beermen to post one of their biggest leads, 113-93.
Vic Manuel also had 23 points for the Beermen, who will now wait for the outcome of the game between the TNT Tropang Giga (9-1) and Barangay Ginebra (8-2) to determine its seeding entering the quarterfinals.
“It was just the defense. We just relaxed again on defense. The usual thing, we were up by 13 and then we relaxed again. They had a lot of open three-point shots that weren’t contested,” said Beermen coach Jorge Gallent.
CJ Perez finished with a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Cam Clark and Marcio Lassiter also made 20 each, while Jericho Cruz added 12.
The Beermen wasted no time in taking command early.
With the count tied at 21-all in the first period, Tautuaa’s drive and triple found their mark during a 15-2 burst, sending SMB ahead, 36-23, at the end of the quarter.
In the second period, Lassiter made eight points as the Beermen stayed ahead by six, 62-56, at halftime.
The Scores:
SAN MIGUEL 129 – Manuel 23, Tautuaa 23, Lassiter 20, Clark 20, Perez 20, Cruz 12, Bulanadi 5, Herndon 3, Enciso 2, Faundo 1, Brodnial 0, Canete 0, Ross 0
RAIN OR SHINE 116 – Mamuyac 23, Borboran 15, Belga 12, Torres 12, Demusis 12, Namabatac 9, Asistio 7, Nieto 7, Ildefonso 7, Nieto 7, Santillan 6, Yap 4, Caracut 2, Clarito 0, Ponferrada 0
QUARTERS: 36-23, 62-56, 100-91, 129-116