San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent. PBA . IMAGES
ANTIPOLO—Coach Jorge Gallent wasn’t too worried when San Miguel Beer’s lead dropped to 10 as Phoenix counter-attacked with 5:49 still remaining.
After all, the Beermen have an experienced team with many championship pedigrees led by six-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo.
“When the leaders went down, it was a challenge for the team to recover so that’s what they did. When we were behind, we didn’t panic at all. We just kept calm and the lead increased again. Gallent, who replaced Leo Austria at the helm just before the congress ended the season, said we didn’t get into that panic phase.
“This team is very calm, once we go from 30 to 10, I am very confident that they will still survive,” he added.
Gallent was right when the Beermen responded by finishing the game 17-6.
However, Gallent reminded his players to stay tight from start to finish after the Beermen took a 33-point lead.
“We cannot relax. We always have to play the full 48 minutes. If we relax, we give the opponent a chance to come back, so we have to play our best for 48 minutes whether you come on from the bench or start, you have to keep that energy. while in the yard.”
Fajardo gave the Beermen 19 points with 9/14 shots from the field and 13 rebounds while Cameron Clark led all scorers with 23 points along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
“Our team is built with pretty good veterans who have won many championships, so it’s good to be with so many veterans that you can learn from. The calm part comes from them,” said San Miguel guard Simon Enciso, who is also very solid with 14 points from nine assists.
Three more games ended in double digits for the Beermen with CJ Perez adding 18, Allyn Bulanadi scoring 16 coming off the bench and Marcio Lassiter scoring 11.
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