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Though San Miguel came out with the 101-95 win to take a 1-0 series lead in its best-of-5 semifinals series against Rain or Shine on Thursday, Alex Cabagnot rued the errors which allowed the Beermen to fall behind by as much as 24 early in the game.
“It’s the semifinals already so we have to step up our energy level and play semifinals basketball,” he said.
READ: Beermen recover from 24 points down to stun Elastopainters
After Rain or Shine blazed to a 43-19 lead early in the second quarter, a relentless Beermen side chipped away at the lead and used a blazing 20-5 third quarter run make it a game with still a period left yet to be played.
“They started a little bit early than us and I’m glad and God willing that we got the energy, the know-how, and the patience to overcome it,” he said.
Cabagnot led that fightback, dropping 11 of his 15 points in the second half to go with eight assists and five rebounds.
But he knows the Beermen can’t afford to make the same mistakes and stare at big deficits again in this series as the wear-and-tear takes a toll on their bodies.
“Every semifinals is tough. Every game increases in intensity,” he said, as he hoped that San Miguel will have a better start in Game 2 on Saturday.
“Our season has been longer than the NBA season. We’re in a position that we’re just trying to find the energy and little pockets of intensity here and there,” said Cabagnot. “We just have to find that to be able to play through in the next games.” CFC