San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent doesn’t see June Mar Fajardo’s premature exit as the turning point that ultimately led to their first loss of the PBA Governors’ Cup at the hands of a gritty Converge side Saturday night.
The six-time MVP fouled out of the match still with 2:57 to go and with his team trailing by just a field goal, ending the night with only seven points to his name, alongside 10 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
It was the first time since 2019 that the Cebuano star fouled out, or since Game 1 of their Philippine Cup best-of-seven series versus Phoenix.
But for the veteran mentor, it was the way they defended the FiberXers that led to their downfall after a fiery 5-0 start into the conference.
“Maybe, maybe not,” he told reporters moments after the loss at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. “Maybe if June Mar stayed, better for us. But you know, it is what it is. June Mar fouled out, he got his sixth foul, mga three minutes.
“Pero, kaya nga, we just have to learn how not to foul so that we won’t give 21 free throws sa fourth quarter,” Gallent continued.
Converge did get the majority of its fourth-quarter points from the charity stripe, making 16 of the 21 bonuses they were essentially given by SMB.
Free throws staggered the usually-composed Beermen in the endgame, when Justin Arana and Jerrick Balanza scored the FiberXers’ last three points from the foul line to seal the deal — and give themselves win no. 5.
Gallent’s wards gave up 14 fouls in the final period alone. They finished the game with a total of 33 fouls, and that concerned him the most.
“We just have to learn from the mistakes in the end. I think we committed a lot of fouls in the end kasi we gave them 21 free throws in the fourth quarter. We just have to learn from that. We just have to play good defense,” he said.
“Despite all of that, CJ had a chance to bring it down to one … Breaks of the game. Plus, we have to learn how to defend better.”
The loss not only ended the longest active winning streak but also denied San Miguel of earning an outright quarterfinal berth.
It would’ve been better had they already accomplished as much but Gallent said that Beermen’s primary focus is winning as many games as they can.
“Oo nga, sayang. Pero there’s still five more games, so we just have to bounce back from this loss,” said the 54-year-old bench tactician.
“Anyway, ‘yung ano namin, we’re not focused on the quarters. We’re more focused on winning games. And then if it comes, lucky for us.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
