San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria was elated to see Marcio Lassiter write a different ending to a similar scenario with a winning basket that allowed them to even their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series with TNT at 1-1.
Lassiter’s putback at the buzzer that gave the Beermen a 98-96 victory Wednesday, Oct. 6 came three days after he failed to convert a running attempt in the final play of the semis opener.
“I’m happy for him dahil na-redeem niya ang sarili niya,” said Austria. “We're not lucky in Game 1 but today, it's for Marcio. Na-redeem niya yung kanyang sarili on his last shot.”
It was the fourth game-winning basket San Miguel made in this conference, with the latest coming after TNT led by a high of 19 in the third.
But the comeback sparked by Terrence Romeo enabled the Beermen to steal the victory away from the Tropang Giga.
Austria opted to go for June Mar Fajardo for a quick post play after Troy Rosario tied the score with 6.4 seconds left.
Fajardo looked like he was in a good position to be the hero but Rosario’s defense left the SMB center to hit the ball on the front rim. Arwind Santos tried to go for a tip-in but he also couldn’t convert.
But with TNT rookie Mikey Williams watching the play and RR Pogoy concentrated on beating Santos for the ball, Lassiter suddenly got into the fray and was able to make a quick basket that sparked wild celebrations from the SMB contingent.
“Hindi ko matatawaran yung puso ng mga players,” said Austria. “We were down by 19 points but we kept on fighting.”
The result could be the momentum SMB needs to beat TNT in the best-of-seven affair.