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PBA: 'Tsamba' or not, a win is a win for SMB's Leo Austria

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/03/12/leo-austria-031218.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>SMB coach Leo Austria. Richard Esguerra, <a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/basketball/photos">ABS-CBN Sports</a></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines – Leo Austria is the first to admit that the San Miguel Beermen were the recipients of a few lucky breaks on Sunday, when they eked out a 104-102 overtime win against Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.After a comfortable 102-90 win in Game 1 last Friday, the Beermen found themselves playing catch-up to the Gin Kings all throughout Game 2. They trailed by as much as 15 points, and needed a cold-blooded triple by Arwind Santos with 13 seconds to go in order to force overtime.Marcio Lassiter then finished what Santos started in the extra period, as he scored San Miguel&#x27;s last six points – including the go-ahead tip-in with three seconds left.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/basketball/news/2018/03/11/looks-like-san-miguel-rest-lauriat-38808">READ: Looks like San Miguel did not rest on their &#x27;lauriat&#x27;</a></li></ul>&quot;I think &#x27;yung panalo namin is tsamba,&quot; the always-blunt Austria said immediately after the game. &quot;We thought from the start na we&#x27;re losing this game, but maybe because of the pride and the experience of the team, they don&#x27;t wanna lose because they know the importance of this game,&quot; he added.Austria believes the final possession showed how luck was on SMB&#x27;s side on Sunday. With the game tied at 102 and just 15 seconds to play, he drew up a pick-and-roll play for Lassiter and June Mar Fajardo.&quot;He (Lassiter) executed it well. It happened na June Mar, na-miss niya &#x27;yung lay-up,&quot; said the coach.Indeed, it was a shock when Fajardo – who shot 65% from the field in the elimination round – bobbled the lay-up. But Lassiter followed it up with a tip-in – a sequence that saw the SMB veteran out-jump Ginebra&#x27;s Scottie Thompson, who averaged 11.18 rebounds per game in the elims.&quot;The presence of mind ni Marcio is always there,&quot; Austria praised.&quot;That&#x27;s why sabi ko na this is tsamba. But tsamba man o ano, tatanggapin ko ng maluwag sa kalooban dahil a win is a win,&quot; the coach further said.Lassiter himself was hesitant to call their win &quot;tsamba,&quot; noting that they worked &quot;extremely hard&quot; to claw their way out of the hole they dug for themselves.More than luck, Lassiter believes it was their renewed focus on defense that sparked their comeback.&quot;In the second half, I think our defense actually picked up a lot. We kind of dictated the tempo a little bit, and from there, we were able to make some easy shots,&quot; he explained.&quot;Our pressure led to some turnovers, our turnovers led to some easy offense for us. It was good that we kept it close throughout the whole game,&quot; he added.Game 3 of the best-of-seven semifinals series is on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.(For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website.</a>)

Leo Austria is the first to admit that the San Miguel Beermen were the recipients of a few lucky breaks on Sunday, when they eked out a 104-102 overtime win against Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.

Leo Austria is the first to admit that the San Miguel Beermen were the recipients of a few lucky breaks on Sunday, when they eked out a 104-102 overtime win against Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.

PBA: 'Tsamba' or not, a win is a win for SMB's Leo Austria

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PBA: 'Tsamba' or not, a win is a win for SMB's Leo Austria

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 12, 2018 03:08 PM PHT

Read More:

PBA

PBA Philippine Cup

San Miguel Beer

Barangay Ginebra

Leo Austria

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