By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The San Miguel Beermen showed no signs of slowing down despite a valiant effort from the Blackwater Elite after nipping them in overtime, 90-88, and notched their fourth win in a row in the PBA bubble.
It was a usual Beermen start in the first half where things got a little bit shaky due to their careless turnovers and erratic shooting which the Elite capitalized on.
Mike Tolomia had all-day shooting the basketball as he became the catalyst when San Miguel switched their defense up to zone.
The young scoring machine from Blackwater opened the third quarter with 8 straight points and became a big problem for Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross on the defensive end.
When Tolomia and company started to enjoy their run, they quickly forgot to cover the struggling Marcio Lassiter who started to light it up when the third quarter was about to end.
With San Miguel already locked-in, the fourth quarter became a tightly-contested dogfight as both squads ground it out and traded crucial baskets.
As time was winding down in the last minute of the game and Blackwater desperately needing a bucket to tie the ball game at 84, Ed Daquioag answered the call and converted on a long-ranged banker to force OT.
Blackwater had multiple chances to win it in overtime after Tolomia, Ron Dennison, and Don Trollano had clean looks to cash in a basket but their attempts failed to find the bottom of the net.
Moala Tautuaa’s dominant presence underneath helped him earn player of the game honors and finished with a monster performance of 26 points and 14 rebounds.
