Beermen nip Tropang Giga to force Game 7 in PBA semis

MANILA, Philippines – The San Miguel Beermen kept their PBA Philippine Cup title bid alive after a convincing 103-90 win against the TNT Tropang Giga in Bacolor, Pampanga on Friday to force a Game Seven.

In their fourth straight game of the series decided by twin-digit leads, the Beermen hardly trailed except early in the match when TNT opened the scoring.

Five different SMB players tallied double-digit scoring to drag the top-seeded Tropang Giga to a winner-take-all rubber match set Sunday.

Mo Tautuaa led the pack with his 24 points on an efficient 10-of-14 shooting clip.

The Beermen found themselves leading by double digits early in the game, when a slow start kept the Tropang Giga struggling to find a rhythm, 14-4.

Ryan Reyes and Jayson Castro connived to cut the distance though, and TNT ended up only down by six, 27-21.

But the Beermen slowly but surely padded their lead. At the half, they were firmly in control, 53-38.

Things only went worse for the Tropang Giga when they allowed the Beermen to mount an unanswered 8-0 run to begin the second half to increase their deficit.

At one point, the Beermen led by 26 points.

While the Tropang Giga tried to stage a comeback led by Reyes and Troy Rosario to cut the lead just 10, 98-88, with 2:44 ticks left, SMB got their offense going anew at just the right time to stave off the close out bid.

Playing supporting role to Tautuaa's 24 points were Marcio Lassiter and Terrence Romeo, who chipped with 19 and 16 markers, respectively.

Arwind Santos (13 points, 10 rebounds) and June Mar Fajardo (11 points, 14 rebounds) also tallied double-doubles for their squad.

Reyes and Castro, meanwhile, had 16 points each in the losing effort for TNT.