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| CJ Perez started the show for SMB before Mo Tautuaa finished the job. Dennis Acosta |
MANILA—Mo Tautuaa prevailed over Isaac Go in a clutch showdown between stretch bigs as San Miguel braved a huge fight from Terrafirma to score a 113-110 win in their PBA Philippine Cup meeting on Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Beermen turned things around in the second half, dropping 68 points on the Dyip, although the latter had their chances in the end thanks to Go.
Led by Go's solid game, Terrafirma held a 103-102 lead with 3:39 left, but June Mar Fajardo and Tautuaa scored on back-to-back layups to put SMB ahead, 106-103, with 3:13 remaining.
After an exchange of baskets, Tautuaa scored on a huge three to put the Beermen up by four, 111-107, although Go responded with a three of his own to bring the lead down to one, 111-110.
Tautuaa, though, hit a reverse layup with 15.1 seconds to increase the gap back to three.
Go had a chance to force overtime, but his three-pointer failed to get a lucky bounce as time ran out.
Tautuaa finished with 24 points, 17 in the fourth quarter, to backstop CJ Perez, who scored SMB's first 11 points before finishing with 25 as their team is now at 5-0.
Fajardo added 20 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, one block, and one steal.
Juami Tiongson led Terrafirma, which fell to 4-4, with 24 points, going 4-of-5 from deep, three rebounds, and two assists.
Go and Javi Gomez De Liano each added 21 points with Go getting all his points from long range, while Stephen Holt had 18 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, and three steals.
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