The San Miguel Beermen had plenty of heroes in their 115–109 Game 5 win over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Wednesday in their PBA Philippine Cup semis series. Mo Tautuaa was certainly one of them.
Averaging just 6.2 points in San Miguel’s previous 16 games, Tautuaa came off the bench to spark the Beermen with his inside play en route to a conference-high 18 points. He added 9 rebounds, all while being a formidable presence in the paint on both sides of the ball.
After the game, San Miguel playing assistant coach Chris Ross gave a nod to Tautuaa, saying that he “answered the call today” for the Beermen.
“When Mo’s out there, it gives them [Ginebra] a different wrinkle to their defense, and he was dominant,” Ross said of Tautuaa’s impact in Game 5.
Ross was right. the hulking Fil-Tongan gave the Ginebra defense a different look, another post player to deal with. And he mostly bodied up whoever was in his way, from Ralph Cu to Raymond Aguilar and even Norbert Torres.
Leo Austria Tips Hat Off to Tautuaa
Tautuaa’s effort in Game 5 wasn’t lost on San Miguel coach Leo Austria, either, as he gave the big man his flowers for being a force for the Beermen.
“I think they were surprised with Mo Tautuaa, and then I want to give him credit for his game because he gave us a lot of opportunities,” Austria said of his veteran big man.
Indeed, the former first overall pick gave San Miguel lots of opportunities, starting with the three offensive rebounds he plucked in traffic. He also opened up lanes for the Beermen’s scorers by being a threat in the paint alongside June Mar Fajardo.
Thanks in part to Big Mo’s big game, San Miguel is again on the cusp of another PBA Philippine Cup Finals appearance.
