San Miguel snaps out of 2-game slide with 81-66 rout of Brgy. Ginebra

San Miguel snapped out of a two-game slide by routing a lackluster Brgy. Ginebra side, 81-66, Sunday night in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup restart at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Angeles City, Pampanga.

The Beermen, who were coming off stinging defeats at the hands of the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters and NLEX Road Warriors, played with a sense of urgency this time around and took control of the match from start to finish to pull the rug from under the league-leading Gin Kings and improve to 6-4. The five-time reigning All-Filipino champs formally barged into the next round after the lopsided win.

“I think the players were motivated by our situation right now because our status is we have to win the last two games or else, we will be eliminated dahil there’s a logjam in the middle of the standings and the teams at the bottom are slowly catching up,” said head coach Leo Austria during the post-game presser.

“With this win, I think we have a little bit of an advantage. I have to commend the players especially the veterans at the start. I think this is the best start we had but in the bubble, but it’s really hard for a four or five winning streak. Sooner or later you’re really going to have a bad game,” he added.

Mo Tautuaa paced the Beermen with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Ross, who was adjudged as Best Player of the Game, added 11 points and team-highs of 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Marcio Lassiter contributed 12 markers while Alex Cabagnot and Bam Gamalinda chipped in 11 points apiece.

The Beermen wrap up their elimination round schedule against NorthPort on Tuesday, November 10 at the same venue.

The scores:

San Miguel 81 – Tautuaa 20, Lassiter 12, Cabagnot 11, Ross 11, Gamalinda 11, Pessumal 7, Santos 7, Zamar 2, Mamaril 0, Comboy 0, Escoto 0.

Brgy. Ginebra 66 – J. Aguilar 13, Thompson 12, Mariano 11, Tolentino 8, Pringle 7, Caperal 7, Dillinger 2, Chan 2, Dela Cruz 2, R. Aguilar 2, Salado 0, Tenorio 0, Devance 0, Balanza 0.

Quarterscores: 27-22, 53-36, 64-56, 81-66.