San Miguel Beer showed better poise in endgame, pulling off a pulsating 110-107 overtime victory over Blackwater in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday, July 10, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
June Mar Fajardo and Mo Tautuaa took charge in overtime, combining for 10 of the 13 points in the extension to finally shake off a pesky Bossing side to close in on one of the top two spots and the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Fajardo posted a double-double of 25 points and 18 rebounds while Jericho Cruz followed up his 30-point outing last game with 25 points, four rebounds and four assists. CJ Perez added 23 points while Tautuaa chipped in 17 points and six rebounds.
The Beermen tried to pull away in the third frame as Cruz and Perez conspired on a furious 15-0 run to take an 82-65 lead heading into the final frame.
The Bossing, though, refused to go down without a fight and rallied back from the deficit to even take a three point lead, 95-92, after a Jvee Casio triple with 2:15 left in regulation.
It was a back-and-forth affair from that point as Cruz tied the game 97-all with 37 seconds left. Flashbacks of Blackwater's last two victories were seen in the final possession as the Bossing once again went to Baser Amer who nailed the team’s last two game-winners. He, however, went all board in the final attempt which sent the game to an extra period.
The game continued to be close in overtime as the Bossing simply had answers to every Beermen run with a Casio triple cutting the lead down to just one, 108-107, with seven seconds left after trailing by five early on.
Fajardo and Lassiter were steady from the foul line in the waning seconds to seal the win.
Rashawn McCArthy and Rey Suerte spearheaded the Bossing with 22 and 18 points respectively while Amer added 17. The Bossing dropped to a 5-2 record in the standings.