Mo Tautuaa put on a dominant performance as Cebuana Lhuillier cruised to its third consecutive victory, 95-88, against Kera Mix on Thursday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Foundation Cup at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City.
The 6-foot-7 Tautuaa warmed up early as the Gems opened a 13-2 lead in the first quarter that set the tone of the rout. He had 19 points in the first half, mostly on easy lay-ups, that helped catapult Cebuana to a 55-25 advantage at the break.
In the second game, Rey Nambatac buried a three-pointer as time expired to lift MP Hotel to a 107-106 decision past Cagayan Valley.
After Jayson Melano split his free throws for a 106-104 Cagayan lead with 6.3 seconds, the Warriors quickly worked the ball downcourt.
Swarmed a by a bunch of defenders on top the key, Rocky Acidre tossed the ball to Jan Colina, who spotted Nambatac open at the base. Nambatac took a couple dribble before launching the shot from beyond the arc and hit the mark as the final buzzer sounded.
“The players were frustrated after losing our first two games by blowouts. I thought they showed a lot of character today and never gave up even when things looked bad,” said MP Hotel Coach Jose Luis Gonzales.
It was a tough loss for the Rising Suns, who led by as many as 70-54 in the third quarter but went on an empty tank in the fourth.
The loss left Cebuana Lhuillier as the only unbeaten team in the young conference.
Kera Mix struggled offensively the entire game as center Norberto Torres and Tautuaa imposed their size, in the process altering several shots and denying the Mixers easy baskets.
Cebuana Coach Boycie Zamar didn’t seem impressed, though.
“The team still lack consistency and character. We had a chance to win convincingly but the team showed a lot of inconsistencies in the second half,” Zamar observed.
“We had a strong start. But we saw a lot of games here in the D-League where fortunes turn around in the fourth quarter. So it’s important for us to be consistent.”
Tautuaa, a US-born Fil-Tongan, finished with a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double-double. He also had five assist and one steal in 30 minutes on the floor.
The Gems also got solid contribution from Simon Enciso, who had 24 points, including 7 of 9 shooting from 3-point range to share scoring honors. Paul Zamar scored 13 points while Allan Mangahas chipped in 11 and six assists for the Gems, who stayed unbeaten in three starts.
The Mixers had a 50-40 advantage on points in the paint and 22-10 edge on fastbreak points but most of them came in the second half when the Gems were already out of reach.
Keith Agovida scored 19 points off the bench as did Jiovanni Jalalon with 14 while Gil Marte and Jessie Saitanan added 10 apiece for the Mixers.
Kera Mix threw everything on Tautuaa and Torres but none succeeded as the Mixers picked up their first loss in three games.