CITY OF DASMARINAS - That San Miguel Beer pride.
Not wanting their season to end, the Beermen played with fire in their eyes and avoided being swept by Barangay Ginebra in their PBA Governors' Cup quarterfinals series on Tuesday night at the Dasmarinas City Arena here.
The proud franchise survived a giant Ginebra comeback and RJ Abarrientos' potential game-winning four-point shot to escape with a 101-98 win in Game 3, cutting the Kings' lead in the best-of-five series to 2-1.
READ SMB survives Ginebra comeback to extend quarterfinals to a Game 4
San Miguel coach Leo Austria said the win boosted the morale of the embattled Beermen.
"This gives us back our confidence. We thought we'll have an early vacation," he said. "This win extends the series on Friday (Game 4), and hopefully, magkaroon ng Game 5."
With their back against the wall, Austria felt the Beermen's urgency to live to fight for another day prior to the game.
"Kasi sa dugout bago ang game, tahimik silang lahat. Alam mong gusto nilang manalo," he said about the atmosphere inside the dugout before the match. "So lahat parang nagkakaintindihan. Everybody was on the same page."
Austria is banking on the momentum of the win for San Miguel ahead of Game 4 set on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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