San Miguel Beer was down at the half 33-39 against Rain Or Shine and were tied at 58-58 at the end of the third before Lordy Tugade found his rhythm and with a fourth quarter storm the Beermen raced ahead for good 93-77 in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup before a sparse crowd at the Araneta Coliseum, Wednesday.
Tugade scored 16 points in the final nine minutes and led San Miguel Beer to their third victory against a Rain Or Shine team that is in an inexplicable slump.
Tugade was used sparingly in the first three quarters where he was 0-4 from the field but once he made his first basket with 8:24 to play, then made two free thros after a Rain Or Shine turnover before burying two triples to take the spirit out of ROS.
In a post game interview Tugade said he was thankful that coach Siot Tanquincen didn’t give up on him and said “it somehow kept me going and motivated me.” Tugade went 4-of-5 from the field including three triples and converted 5-of-6 free throws awarded him in the final quarter.
There were eleven lead changes and six deadlocks before Rain Or Shine lost their shooting touch in the final quarter shooting a mere 33 percent, converting on 6-of-18 attempts.
Jeff Chan buried a three with eleven minutes to play, giving ROS the last taste of the lead at 61-60.
Two free throws by Denok Miranda and a triple by Mikle Cortez put San Miguel ahead and they never looked back.
The Beermen shot a remarkable 62 percent in the final quarter on 10-of-16 shooting to inflict the fifth straight loss by Rain Or Shine.
Assistant coach Richard Del Rosario called the shots in the absence of Caloy Garcia who was advised to rest by his doctors after figuring in minor vehicular accident recently.
The scores:
San Miguel Beer 93 –Tugade 16, Cortez 14, Hontiveros 13, Santos 12, Miranda 11, Seigle 10, Pena 6, C ustodio 5, Villanueva 4, Racela 2, Pennisi 0, Eman 0.
Rain Or Shine 77 – Norwood 14, Chan 14, Reyes 12, Telan 11, Laure 7, Mercado 6, Hrabak 6, Cruz 4, Tang 3, Arellano 0, Ibanes 0.
Quarter scores – 20-19, 33-39, 58-58, 93-77
