Mo Tautuaa drops 24 as San Miguel downs TNT to force Game 7

San Miguel forced a do-or-die showdown after overwhelming TNT, 103-90, Friday afternoon in Game 6 of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals at the Don Honorio Ventura State University in Bacolor, Pampanga.

The Beermen led by as many as 26 points and only trailed when the Tropang Giga scored the first two points of the lopsided contest.

Mo Tautuaa paced the 27-time PBA champs with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting while Marcio Lasiter racked up 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Terrence Romeo contributed 16 markers, 6 dimes, 2 boards and 1 steal.

“Just what (Marcio Lassiter) said, you know experience number one. In this kind of situation, we know what to do. And we know how to lose and how to win a game. We know that this is a do-or-die for us and luckily, we have a good start and we’re able to sustain our energy,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.

“Yeah, that’s always the question I’m always receiving regarding the momentum after winning a game. But if you will notice since the start of the series with Talk ‘N text, we beat them, they beat us, we beat them, they beat us. And now, it’s a matter of who wanted to win,” he added.

The Tropang Giga had an opportunity to advance to the PBA Finals but they failed to overhaul the 26-point advantage of the Beermen.

Jayson Castro and Ryan Reyes each scored 16 points for the Chot Reyes-mentored squad while Poy Erram posted 11 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks. Troy Rosario had a double-double performance of 10 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.

The scores:

San Miguel 103 – Tautuaa 24, Lassiter 19, Romeo 16, Santos 13, Fajardo 11, Cabagnot 9, Perez 8, Ross 3, Gamalinda 0.

TNT 90 – Castro 16, Reyes 16, Erram 11, Rosario 10, M.Williams 9, Heruela 9, Pogoy 6, Montalbo 6, K. Williams 5, Khobuntin 2, Exciminiano 0, Marcelo 0, Alejandro 0.

Quarterscores: 27-21, 53-38, 86-62 103-90.