MAGNOLIA coach LA Tenorio remained satisfied with the work that the team put in against San Miguel despite being on the losing end on Friday.
The Hotshots fell to their second loss of the PBA Philippine Cup in a 94-92 defeat to the Beermen, who needed Don Trollano's late four-point shot to reclaim the lead and hold off a last-gasp Magnolia fightback.
Magnolia trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half but fought back and even grabbed the lead entering the fourth, 70-69, only to fall short in the end against a high-powered San Miguel squad.
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“Honestly, I like what we saw during the second half,” said Tenorio. “Tulad ng sinabi ko sa team, ‘yung second half, ‘yun ‘yung dapat na game namin from start to finish. We cannot afford to give a team like San Miguel an early lead like that.
"Our chances of winning, kapag ganun na ang nangyayari, medyo mahihirapan talaga kami. But hats off to all the players. They fought back.” We even had a lead at the end of the third quarter. And then, fourth quarter, it was really a close game.
"I think those kind of games, tulad ng sinabi ko sa mga players, will get us to the next level and we definitely will get better from this,” said Tenorio.
The game came down to the final possession with Jerom Lastimosa misfiring on a contested four-point after Cjay Perez missed two free throws forcing Magnolia to go the length of the floor without calling a timeout.
Tenorio said losing close games will help make the Hotshots better in the longterm Magnolia’s first loss at the hands of Meralco, 78-76, last October 19 was close as well.
“Hindi kasi puwede parating easy game, parating panalo na maganda o malaki ang laman. So sa pogi points, I told them, these kind of things will get us to the next level,” Tenorio added.
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