San Miguel Beer guard Terrence Romeo.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—After a subpar first three quarters, Terrence Romeo came alive in the fourth quarter as San Miguel Beer secured a seat in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals on Monday.
Romeo finished with 22 points, 15 coming in the final frame that allowed the Beermen to pull away and cool off the red-hot Phoenix Fuel Masters.
“I really had it in my mind to be aggressive and the shots I took were really my shots. I’m thankful for coach Jorge because even if I couldn’t find my game in the first half, his trust was still there in the second. My teammates also made it easy for us to execute our plays,” said the flashy guard in Filipino after the 117-96 victory over Phoenix.
“Coach always tells me that my shot will come. I practice all those and my mentality doesn’t change even when I’m missing. As long as I can put it up, even if there’s a defender in front of me, I think it’s a good shot. As long as it goes in.”
But more impressive than Romeo’s scoring was he also dished out eight assists.
“When Terrence was doubled and tripled, he passed the ball to his open teammates… I credit all of them for all those extra passes,” said Gallent.
New import Bennie Boatwright led with 26 points and 16 rebounds while CJ Perez and Jericho Cruz added 20 and 15 points, respectively. Don Trollano chipped in 12.
Playing unselfish basketball, the Beermen recorded 28 assists with only six turnovers.
“I really give my teammates credit because every time the ball’s with me and I try to go one-on-one of create, they (Phoenix) collapse so when I kick it out to Marcio, CJ, Jericho, all of them, the shots go in,” Romeo said.
“If we play like that, with really good ball movement, I think we’re hard to defend.”