TYLER Tio cherished his personal match-up with former collegiate teammate Gian Mamuyac - and getting the better end of it.
Tio scored nine of his 16 points in a huge fourth quarter barrage by Phoenix to deal Rain or Shine its first loss of the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup, Tuesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
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He did most of it at the expense of Mamuyac, his fellow member of Ateneo's 'Blue Eagle Band of Brothers' or 'BEBOB' under Tab Baldwin.
Still, Tio has all the respect for the Elasto Painters' two-way guard.
"Kahit may familiarity, ang hirap pa rin bantayan," he said. "But thankfully we got stops on that last part. But credit to Mamu, he's such a good player. He plays on both ends and it's fun doing it against him."
Mamuyac had half of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, but was held to 4-of-10 shooting overall.
One Big Fight
More than emerging the better in his match-up with his ex-Blue Eagles teammate, Tio was very much satisfied in bringing down this tournament's No. 1 team.
"It's huge for us. As a team, we feel we were better than most outsiders view us. And that's something we pride on. We know we can compete with any team when we're on our best," he said.
"So it feels good to get a win over the top seed."
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