In Sunday’s PBA Philippine Cup victory over Phoenix, San Miguel’s Mar Fajardo missed the whole second quarter.

Fans of San Miguel, don’t worry. Fajardo was unharmed. Simply put, Mo Tautuaa, the anchor of the second unit, performed so well in the second quarter that he requested SMB coach Leo Austria not to bring him back.

The Beermen defeated the Fuelmasters 111-92 after outscoring them 34-21 in the second quarter, which was actually the game-changing moment.

When Fajardo returned in the third quarter, he had scored 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, his typical stats.

Tautuaa, however, played 15 minutes and 41 seconds and finished with three rebounds, three assists, seven points, and one steal. According to Austria, Tautuaa also performed admirably defensively, protecting Phoenix big man Kai Ballungay, who finished with a team-high 23 points.

Trollano and Tautuaa combined for 28 of the Beermen’s 46 bench points on offense.

Austria said, “It’s a good incentive and motivation para kay Mo because in the past, talagang limited ‘yung playing time niya. Mabuti na lang maganda ang nilaro niya to extend his playing time,”

According to Austria, Tautuaa’s speed also helped because he had a stronger defensive matchup against Ballungay and Jason Perkins than Fajardo.

“He played well on defense, especially guarding the big man of Phoenix who is very agile. ‘Yun ang one of the weakness ni June Mar, siya ang inaatake. But with Mo, that’s the reason why lumaki ‘yung lamang namin nung second quarter,” he added.

Meanwhile, Coach Leo Austria and CJ Perez had a verbal altercation during San Miguel’s 111-92 victory over Phoenix in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium due to a misunderstanding regarding a last-minute order given before the half.

Jason Perkins of the Fuel Masters scored shortly before the halftime buzzer to cut the Beermen’s lead to 64-50, and Austria was heard scolding Perez before the team left for their dugout.

Given that the Beermen had one more to go before the penalty, it appears that Perez disregarded the coaching staff’s instruction to give up a foul.

Perez attempted to double on defense instead of calling a foul, which unfortunately left Perkins open for a layup.

However, the victorious coach downplayed the event, claiming that as soon as the Beermen returned to the court for the third quarter, everything was immediately put aside.

“Wala naman talaga yun. Nag-sorry naman agad si CJ. Nangyayari naman ang mga ganun,” Austria said.

Other than that error, Perez was on fire the whole game for San Miguel. After making 12 of 22 shots, including two 3-pointers, he finished with a game-high 26 points.

The Beermen recovered from their 89-84 setback to TNT Tropang 5G last week and improved to 4-2 overall thanks to Perez’s five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

He and Mo Tautuaa and Don Trollano ignited San Miguel’s second-quarter surge, which saw the Beermen surpass Phoenix 34–21 to regain control of the game.