TERRAFIRMA caught a big fish in San Miguel, outlasting the Beermen in overtime, 110-104, for its breakthrough win in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Juami Tiongson scored a career-high 28 points while free throws by Eric Camson and Rashwan McCarthy down the stretch completed the Dyip's comeback from 16 points down for the team's first win in five games this season.
"I just stayed calm and had some fun because at the end of the day, it's just basketball," said Tiongson following his career milestone, which enabled the Dyip to end the Beermen's win streak at three.
The playmaker out of Ateneo led the Dyip back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter and forged a 95-all deadlock with 44 seconds left in regulation by hitting a clutch jumper, leading to overtime.
He then sparked a 10-5 Terrafirma run late in the extra period for a 107-102 lead from which the Beermen never recovered.
Aldrech Ramos finished with 17 points and eight rebounds before fouling out, while Camson had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds for the undermanned Dyip (1-4), who played minus top rookie Joshua Munzon (finger injury) and Adams (amoebiasis).
Camson scored off against Arwind Santos to open the extra period, before June Mar Fajardo answered with a layup to tie the game for the last time at 97.
Tiongson and Camson then joined hands in pulling off the biggest scoring run for the Dyip and took control of the game for good.
"This is basketball. Kapag tinignan natin yung kalaban na malakas, walang mangyayari sa atin. As long as we're ready to play as a team, we're ready to play to win, yung ang nangyayari, nananalo," said Terrafirma coach Johnedel Cardel of the mindset of his team going to the game at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
"Naka-tsamba lang naman kami," he added.
Terrence is back
San Miguel led by as many as 16 points, 67-51, in the third period as the team welcomed back high-scoring guard Terrence Romeo, who led the team with 28 points, six rebounds, six assists and hardly showed the effects of the hyper-extended knee that sidelined him for three games.
Fajardo, still grieving the loss of his mother, also had huge numbers for the Beermen with 18 poins and 12 rebounds, but missed two crucial free throws late in regulation that could have won the game for the team outright.
Four other players also scored in double figures for the Beermen, including CJ Perez with 10 in his first game against his former team.
The scores:
Terrafirma (110) - Tiongson 28, Ramos 17, Camson 13, Gabayni 11, McCarthy 10, Cahilig 9, Rosser 7, Celda 6, Batiller 5, Laput 4, Calvo 0.
San Miguel (104) - Romeo 28, Fajardo 18, Santos 19, Tautuaa 11, Perez 10, Ross 10, Lassiter 5, Gotladera 3, Gamalinda 0, Zamar 0, Pessumal 0.
Quarterscores: 19-16; 42-40; 61-75; 95-95 (reg); 110-104.
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