Espinas leads SMB bench mob in rout of Elite

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Gabby Espinas had a game to remember just three days after celebrating his 35th birthday.

The veteran forward provided San Miguel a big lift off the bench with a conference-high 22 points and six rebounds in the Beermen’s dominant 118-93 victory over the Blackwater Elite on Friday.

But Espinas didn’t want to attribute his good night to his birthday, saying that his performance was exactly what coach Leo Austria asked for from the bench mob.

“Kailangan lang naming ipagpatuloy yung energy nung first group namin. Every game, lagi silang bugbog so kung anong ma-provide namin, malaking tulong na sa kanila yun, di ba?” he said.

(We only had to sustain the energy of the first group. They’re always spent every game so whatever help we could provide is a big lift for them, right?)

With Espinas leading the way, the Beermen drew 53 points from the bench which was pivotal in securing their fifth straight win.

Though a lot regard San Miguel as a top-heavy crew, the 6-foot-4 bruiser thinks that there’s more than meets the eye, and the whole roster could truly turn it on when Austria asks them to.

That’s certainly what happened in the duel against the Elite, with the bench contributing a lot as the starters took a breather.

“Alam naman natin ang role natin dito. Puro star players dito so pag binigyan ka ng opportunity, eh di i-grab mo na. (We know our role here. We have star players here so when you got the opportunity, you just have to grab it.),” he said.

The Beermen eye to make it six in a row against the Barangay Ginebra Kings on Sunday.