Tautuaa, Santos provide spark as Beermen neutralize Bolts for third straight win

San Miguel completely outplayed Meralco in the fourth and final frame to hack out a come-from-behind 89-82 victory, Wednesday in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup restart at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Down by 13 late in the 3rd quarter and by 9 entering the 4th, the Beermen went on a crippling 14-2 run capped by a Von Pessumal triple to surge ahead. The defending champs further stepped on the gas and cruised to their 3rd straight victory which enabled them to improve to 4-2 and grab a share of 3rd spot in the team standings with idle Brgy. Ginebra and Phoenix Super LPG.

“This game is really important for us. We didn’t have a good start. We’re lucky in the fourth were able to catch up. They know we needed to win,” said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria. “They know how to win. In the last few minutes, when we were leading by five or six, we knew that we had to take care of that lead and they knew how to do it.

“We were down by double figures so we’re not losing our hope and I got some players from the bench that provided a spark, especially Von Pessumal and Bambam Gamalinda. They provided a lot of energy and they were able to give some rest to Marcio and Alex.” he added.

Mo Tautuaa, who was adjudged as the Best Player of the Game for the third time in the conference, paced San Miguel with 23 points to go along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Arwind Santos delivered another splendid performance as the 39-year old native of Angeles City contributed 17 points, a team-high 11 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block in 41 minutes of action.

Alex Cabagnot added 13 points while fellow veterans Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter chipped in 12 markers apiece.

The Beermen will just have a day off before plunging back into action on Friday, October 30 against Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel.

The scores:

San Miguel 89 – Tautuaa 23, Santos 17, Cabagnot 13, Ross 12, Lassiter 12, Pessumal 4, Gamalinda 4, Zamar 2, Escoto 2, Mamaril 0, Alolino 0, Vigil 0, DeGuzman 0, Comboy 0.

Meralco 82 – Baser 17, Hugnatan 15, Newsome 14, Black 7, Hodge 7, Qinto 6, Almazan 5, Maliksi 5, Jamito 4, Pinto 2, Faundo 0, Jackson 0, Jose 0, Salva 0, Caram 0.

Quarterscores: 19-20, 40-40, 60-69, 89-82.

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