By JEREMIAH SEVILLA
Games Wednesday
10 a.m. – Rain or Shine vs NLEX
1 p.m. – Blackwater vs Meralco
4 p.m. – Magnolia vs TNT
6:45 p.m. – NorthPort vs Ginebra
SMART CLARK GIGA CITY– Chris Ross took charge in overtime as San Miguel outlasted Blackwater, 90-88, in the historic morning game of the PBA Philippine Cup Tuesday at the AUF Sports Arena here.
Veteran guard Ross drained five of the Beermen’s six points in the extension period as they cruised to a fourth straight victory in the opener of the first-ever quadruple-header in league history.
Defending champion San Miguel improved to 5-2 and stayed in the upper half of the standings with the race to the playoffs starting to heat up after a four-day break.
“This game is the key for us. Kasi kahit papaano ‘yung isang paa namin nasa quarterfinals na,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.
Mo Tautuaa once again led the Beermen with a double-double of 26 points and 14 rebounds while Marcio Lassiter chipped in 12 markers.
Alex Cabagnot added 11 points and Von Pessumal contributed 10 points, including the game-sealing free throw. Ross finished with eight points and eight boards.
Ed Daquioag had 20 points even as Mike Tolomia had 17 for Blackwater, which suffered its third consecutive defeat for a 2-4 card.
The Elite played its first game in 12 days, seeing action in a 96-109 loss to TNT on October 22 before its next two games got postponed as one of their players became the second “false positive” case inside the bubble.
The PBA resumed after a four-day postponement to comply with the new protocols set by the IATF and DOH, forcing the league to compress the remaining 30 elimination round games in just nine days.
First Game
SAN MIGUEL 90 – Tautuaa 26, Lassiter 12, Cabagnot 11, Pessumal 10, Santos 9, Ross 8, Gamalinda 5, Zamar 4, Mamaril 3, Escoto 2, Comboy 0.
BLACKWATER 88 – Daquioag 20, Tolomia 17, Trollano 10, Golla 10, Canaleta 8, Dennison 7, Salem 6, Escoto 5, Gabriel 3, Sumang 2, Dario 0, Magat 0, Shaw 0.
Quarters: 20-27, 41-41, 66-59, 84-84, 90-88 (OT)
