Terrafirma may have fallen short of pulling off another huge upset against San Miguel but it managed to gain a new believer in Beermen head coach Jorge Gallent.

The veteran mentor tipped his hat off to Dyip who gave the Beermen a giant scare in the defending champions’ 113-110 victory on Wednesday, April 10.

If not for the late heroics from Mo Tautuaa, SMB could have fallen prey to the upset-minded Terrafirma which was coming off an upset win over Barangay Ginebra on Sunday.

“They are not a pushover team anymore. It’s a team that will fight, fight and fight,” said Gallent.

The Dyip actually opened a 19-7 lead in the opening frame and led by as many as 12 points before only allowing the Beermen to seize control in the final frame.

Juami Tiongson continued to lead the way for the Dyip with 24 points. Isaac Go had a career-high of 21 points built on seven triples while Javi Gomez De Liano had 21 points and seven rebounds.

Taking the driver's seat for the Dyip was rookie Stephen Holt who flirted with a triple-double of 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

While Terrafirma certainly now has more pieces to compete with, the biggest difference in Dyip's play, according to Gallent, is that it finally knows how to win.

“They are a team that knows how to win already. They were 4-3 before our game so I think they are not anymore scared of winning. It’s a team that is hard to beat,” said Gallent.

Terrafirma actually came close to replicating its pair of upset wins back in 2021 during the Bacolor bubble when it defeated powerhouse Ginebra and San Miguel in back-to-back fashion.

Just like that conference, the Dyip have now equaled their most wins in a conference under the tutelage of Johnedel Cardel and their bid to advance to the quarterfinals is very much doable according to Gallent.

Terrafirma is now 4-4 in the standings and needing to win two of its last three games to assure itself a spot in the playoffs.

“It’s a team that wants to go to the quarters . I think they have a great chance now and I think that’s why they are playing like that. They’re not a scared team anymore,” he added