Austria reminds Beermen to keep emotions in check

MANILA, Philippines -- Following a heated matchup with the Converge FiberXers on Friday evening, San Miguel head coach Leo Austria stressed the importance of improving maturity moving forward as the quarterfinal race heats up.

San Miguel nearly blew a 19-point fourth quarter lead but held on against Converge, 116-113, in a must-win match Friday.

This pumped life back into the Beermen’s quarterfinal hopes and broke their two-game losing streak.

During the fourth quarter against the FiberXers, guards Juami Tiongson and Jericho Cruz were called for technical fouls after separate contacts on Converge’s Alec Stockton.

The technical fouls were called in a crucial time, when the FiberXers were trying to mount a comeback.

After a jumper by Tiongson, which gave the Beermen a 114-106 advantage, he bumped Stockton who then knocked down the technical free throw.

This sparked a run that cut the lead to just one, 113-114, after a Cheick Diallo layup with 1:36 remaining.

Ultimately, though, the brakes of the game went the way of San Miguel.

Austria said that he thinks their players were “so emotional.”

“I think our player is so emotional to the point na nakakakuha kami ng technical foul. And then we should learn from that,” he told reporters.

“Maturity is something na we have to consider to improve our team,” he added.

For his part, Tiongson said that his competitiveness just got the better of him.

“It's a must win. It's more of the competitive fire, wanting to win, wanting to make the playoffs. Siyempre, I'm a new guy,” he told reporters.

“As expected naman San Miguel, it's an elite team. You can't play the playoffs without San Miguel. And for me, I really was just intense and competitive,” he added.

But Tiongson said that all is well with him and Stockton.

“And at the end of the day, Alec and I are friends naman off the court. It's just on the court.”

The Beermen are now holding a 5-6 win-loss record. They will take on the TNT Tropang Giga on Sunday in their final elimination round game.