One team’s misery is another team’s fortune.

San Miguel snapped out of its two-game slump by eking out a 105-98 win over struggling Terrafirma in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Angeles University Foundation in Pampanga on Monday, October 19.

Despite reeling from the absence of star Terrence Romeo who is suffering from a shoulder injury, the Beermen banked on the frontcourt duo of Mo Tautuaa and Arwind Santos to notch their first win in the PBA bubble.

Tautuaa finished with 25 points and 6 rebounds, while Santos delivered 20 points and 14 rebounds as San Miguel hiked its record to 2-2 and kept Terrafirma winless at 0-3.

The Dyip pulled within shouting distance with 2:40 left following an Aldrech Ramos layup, 93-100, but the Beermen answered with back-to-back buckets from Santos and Alex Cabagnot to stretch their lead to 11.

Cabagnot netted 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, while Marcio Lassiter chipped in 18 points and 7 rebounds for San Miguel.

“This win is really important because we’re talking about morale. If we lost this game, it [would be] really hard to recover,” said Beermen tactician Leo Austria.

San Miguel also drew solid contributions from Von Pessumal, who came off the bench and fired 17 points off 5 triples, and Paul Zamar, who added 11 points and 4 rebounds.

CJ Perez filled up the stats sheet with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals for Terrafirma, which joined NorthPort and NLEX at the bottom of the standings as the only teams yet to win.

Rashawn McCarthy and Juami Tiongson had 15 and 11 points, respectively, in the losing effort.

The Scores

San Miguel 105 – Tautuaa 25, Santos 20, Lassiter 18, Pessumal 17, Zamar 11, Cabagnot 8, Alolino 2, Ross 2, Gamalinda 2, Escoto 0.

Terrafirma 98 – Perez 20, McCarthy 15, Tiongson 11, Adams 9, Celda 9, Ramos 9, Khobuntin 7, Cahilig 6, Faundo 5, Gabayni 5, Camson 2, Calvo 0, Agovida 0, Balagasay 0.

Quarters: 32-24, 55-51, 75-73, 105-98.

– Rappler.com