By Adrian Stewart Co

Chris Ross came up with crucial baskets in overtime as the San Miguel Beermen (SMB) escaped with a 90-88 victory over Blackwater Elite in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup on Tuesday at the AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center in Pampanga.

Down 84-88 in the early minutes of the overtime, Ross scored on a layup, drained a free throw and made another layup to surge the Beermen on top at 89-88 with over a minute left.

The Elite had several opportunities to take the lead but misfired its shots. SMB’s Von Pessumal split his free throws to make it 90-88 and Blackwater’s Chris Michael Tolomia failed on his three-point try as the final buzzer sounded.

Ross finished the match with eight points and eight rebounds as the defending champions Beermen extended its winning run to fourth games to improve to 5-2 win-loss slate.

Moala Tautuaa finished with double-double 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Pessumal added 12, 11 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Beermen.

In the second game, Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters got its game going in the second half to score a come-from-behind 116-94 domination over cellar-dwelling TerraFirma Dyip.

Matthew Wright tallied 33 points, including six three-point conversions, while Calvin Abueva added triple-double 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the Fuel Masters improve to 5-3 slate.ASC, WDJ