San Miguel Beer leaned on the clutch play of Chris Ross in extra period and the double-double effort of man-mountain Moala Tautuaa to carve a 90-88 overtime victory over game Blackwater Elite yesterday, November 3, 2020.
Visibly unused to the early 10 a.m. start the Beermen overcame sloppy play to outsteady the Elite in the first game of the first-ever quadruple header of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena & Cultural Center Powered by Smart 5G.
“It’s really hard to play a morning game. The players’ body clock hasn’t adjusted yet. So we’re fortunate we were able to win this game. We’re lucky the Hail Mary shot of Tolomia didn’t go in,” said Austria.
“I give credit to the players, even though it’s hard for them to wake up earlier and play a (morning) game. They showed their commitment and we were able to pull this one through.”
In the second game of the day Phoenix Super LPG continued to flex its might to rout winless Terrafirma Dyip, 116-94.
The Super LPG (5 wins, 3 losses) thus climbed into a tie at fifth place with the Alaska Aces (5-3). Leading the standings are TNT Tropang Giga (5-1), Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (4-1), San Miguel Beermen (5-2) and Barangay Ginebra (4-2).
The other teams include Meralco Bolts (3-3), Blackwater Elite (2-4), Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok (2-4), NLEX Road Warriors (2-5), NorthPort Batang Pier (1-4) and Terrafirma (0-6).
SMB guard Ross was clutch in overtime as he scored five points to power a 6-0 finishing run which propelled the Beermen to victory.
Tautuaa tallied a double-double of 26 points and 14 rebounds to power the Beermen to their fourth consecutive win and closer to the quarterfinals with their 5-2, win-loss card.
The well-rested Elite, who last played Oct. 22, suffered their third consecutive loss.
Wright stepped into a triple, almost six feet clear of the three-point line, to push the Phoenix lead to 112-83 to virtually settle the outcome of the match with still over 4 minutes left to play.
Wright had another explosive evening to finish with 33 points, 6 assists, 5 steals and 4 rebounds to win Player of the Game honors. The Phoenix guard said his teammates benefitted from the long rest and were glad to rebound from their heartbreaking loss to the Aces a few days ago.
“We were lucky that we had 4 days to prepare for this game even with everything going on. I felt we were well-rested. We had a few days to prepare. We really shot ourselves on the foot against Alaska. But we had the time to get ready and turn things around,” said Wright.
Super LPG completely outplayed and outhustled the demoralized Dyip. At one point in the fourth period Terrafirma coach Johnedel Cardel slammed his whiteboard on the hardcourt because he was the disgusted with the lack of effort by his players.
Super LPG got a lift from another returning veteran in Alex Mallari who played his first game in the Philippine Cup. Just a few games ago Calvin Abueva also rejoined Phoenix. Mallari finished with 6 points, 3 assists and 1 rebound.
Game 1 scores:
San Miguel Beer 90—Moala Tautuaa 26, Marcio Lassiter 12, Alex Cabagnot 11, Von Pessumal 10, Arwind Santos 9, Chris Ross 8, Paul Zamar 4, Billy Mamaril 3, Wendell Comboy 0.
Blackwater Elite 88—Ed Daquioag 20, Mike Tolomia 17, Don Trollano 10, Frank Golla 10, Niño Canaleta 8, Ron Dennison 7, Matt Salem 6, Richard Escoto 5, Jonjon Gabriel 3, Roi Sumang 2, Maurice Shaw 0, Marion Magat 0, Diego Dario 0.
Quarter scores: 20-27, 41-41, 66-59, 84-84, 90-88 OT.
Game 2 scores:
Phoenix Super LPG 116—Matthew Wright 33, RJ Jazul 16, Jason Perkins 14, Brian Heruela 14, Calvin Abueva 12, Justin Chua 10, Alex Mallari 6, JC Intal 4, RR Garcia 3, Jorey Napoles 2, Jansen Rios 2, Dave Marcelo 0, Mike Gamboa 0.
Terrafirma Dyip 94—CJ Perez 32, Juami Tiongson 15, Eric Camson 11, Aldrech Ramos 9, Roosevelt Adams 6, Joseph Gabayni 5, Philip Cahilig 4, Christian Balagasay 4, Rashawn McCarthy 3, Bonbon Batiller 3, Reden Celda 2, Keith Agovida 0, Glenn Khobuntin 0, JP Calvo 0, Jeepy Faundo 0.
Quarter scores: 23-26, 59-55, 86-71, 116-94.