Lassiter: We need to close out games better

Marcio Lassiter. PBA IMAGES

San Miguel needed just one win to advance to the semifinals of the PBA Governors’ Cup, but against NLEX the defending champions had to labor just to get over the hump.

And Marcio Lassiter said they have to learn from their near-collapse against the Road Warriors as they continue  their defense of the title.

“We gotta close out better. NLEX made big shots, you can’t say they didn’t make shots, they made big shots,” said Lassiter after their 114-110 nail-biter. “So you know it was going to be a close game.”

The Beermen are set to face the dangerous Ginebra Gin Kings in a best-of-five semifinal series.

San Miguel had a comfortable 112-105 lead with 22 seconds remaining in the game but the Road Warriors managed to give them a scare when they cut it to 112-110. Import Elijah Millsap then iced the game from the free-throw line to set the final score.

Lassiter said games like those will help toughen them up in the coming rounds where he expects the competition to be a little stiffer.

“Honestly, it’s good preparation for us in the future,” said Lassiter who finished with 14 points. “It will be close games, when it’s close we know we have to overcome adversity and this is one of them.”