WATCH: Best Player – Moala Tautuaa [San Miguel vs Blackwater | November 3, 2020]
San Miguel Beer flirted with disaster before escaping with a 90-88 overtime victory at high noon over hard-fighting Blackwater in the PBA bubble restart at the AUF Gym Powered by Smart 5G.
The Beermen bucked another slow start and banked on their experience to survive an error-filled finish in the morning encounter that kicked off the league’s first-ever quadruple header bill.
Mo Tautuaa banged in 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Beermen to the close win that stretched their streak to four games and sent them closer to the quarterfinals with a 5-2 win-loss record.
The Elite, who played their first game since Oct. 22, skidded to their third consecutive loss for 2-4 overall.
“It’s an ugly game but as long as we’re winning, there’s no problem with it,” said a relieved SMB coach Leo Austria.
The Beermen were a little off their rhythm in the dying seconds of regulation, trading turnovers with Blackwater and missing crucial shots they would normally have made.
Austria and Co. got their break in the last two minutes of extra period as Chris Ross scored five in a 6-0 blast that put them ahead at 90-88 after trailing by four.