By Josh Castro
PBA D-League Draft first pick Moala Tautuaa blasted off to lift Cagayan to a 98-93 win against Cebuana Lhuillier in Game 2 of their Aspirants' Cup semifinal series at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
Tautuaa made all of his ten field goals including four in the last 4:37 to help the Rising Suns broke out of an 83-all deadlock to force the decider in their best-of-three semis against the Gems.
Cebuana Lhuillier fought back from a 35-48 third quarter deficit to tie the match, 83-all, with 6:37 left in the game.
But Abel Galliguez drilled in a three-pointer to give Cagayan the lead anew, 86-83.
After Allan Mangahas converted a jumper in the next play, Tautuaa answered with back-to-back baskets to stretch the gap to five, 90-85.
Norbert Torres made two free throws to cut the Rising Suns' lead to three, but Tautuaa once again responded as he scored on a follow-up to put it back to five with 1:01 left.
Kevin Ferrer made a three-pointer to pull the Gems to within two, 90-92, with 50 seconds remaining.
Another Tautuaa field goal, however, pushed the lead back to four, 94-90, nine seconds later.
Almond Vosotros and Paul Zamar then misfired on a three-pointer, and Don Trollano and Randy Dilay made splits from the free throw line to keep Cagayan up, 96-90, with 15 seconds left.
Cebuana still had one more chance to inch closer, but Zamar lost the ball to Galliguez and found Dilay, who dished the assist to Andrian Celada for the win-sealing layup.
Tautuaa finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists for the Rising Suns, while Galliguez and Michael Mabulac each added 16 markers. Mabulac and Trollano completed a double-double for each of them as they each added ten boards along with the latter's 13 points.
Vosotros and Zamar each scored 15 points for the Gems.
Box Scores:
Cagayan Valley 98—Tautuaa 26, Mabulac 16, Galliguez 16, Trollano 13, Celada 11, Melano 8, Dilay 6, Austria 2, Santos 0, Salamat 0, Tayongtong 0
Cebuana Lhuillier 93—Zamar 15, Vosotros 15, Bautista 11, Torres 10, A. Mangahas 9, Ferrer 9, Enciso 6, Guinto 6, Villahermosa 5, Lopez 5, Acibar 2, Banal 0
Quarterscores: 27-20, 54-45, 78-70, 98-93
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