It’s all about weathering the storm and keeping the momentum for the San Miguel Beermen, as they seek to avoid another close game in their PBA 50 Philippine Cup semifinals series.

Just like in their previous clash, San Miguel led the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in Game 5 by as much as 17 points, before seeing the advantage disappear down the stretch.

San Miguel veteran Chris Ross believes this issue is something they have to address, especially if they want to return to the All-Filipino finals.

“I feel like in every game, we’ve pretty much had a double-digit lead. And I don’t know if it’s relaxing or if they play [desperately], but they do something to get back in the game. I mean, it’s Ginebra. So they’re going to do something to get back in the game,” Ross said.

“We just got to weather the storm when we do get those leads and keep our composure. We had some bad turnovers,” he added.

Ross believes keeping the Ginebra bench at bay or matching their intensity will be key to closing out the semis series.

“Before every game, before we run out there, that if we outscore their bench, we have a really good chance of winning. Because the two games that their bench played really well, they won. And the two games, those other games where we matched their intensity or outplayed their bench, we won,” he said.

For San Miguel head coach Leo Austria, he has been reminding his players, especially the Beermen’s bench mob, to keep the momentum going.

“If you’re leading in double figures, sometimes when you have a bench to relieve those starters, sometimes there’s thinking, ‘Oh, I have to do this, do that. We have to sustain the energy of the first group and the flow of the game.’ And that’s what happened,” he said during the post-game press conference. (ABS-CBN News)