Marcio Lassiter scored 25 points in San Miguel’s 117-98 victory over the Star Hotshots, which included 18 in the third quarter, where the Beermen began to break the game wide open.
Later, Lassiter spoke about his big game, saying the team had stepped up because they wanted to give back to one of their emotional leaders.
“I wanted to say this is definitely one of our strengths is Arwind. His mother did pass away, and we had so much fight and we wanted to pour our hearts out. He is going through a very hard time. All our teammates would definitely do the same thing,” Lassiter said of the team’s strong bond.
“We miss him so much. He is going through a hard time, it is not very easy to cope with these kinds of things, really, it’s just we’re really here for him. We love him. We are staying with him.”
Head coach Leo Austria added that Santos had missed the last few practices, which to him is fully understandable. The mentor even told Santos to take his time before returning to the team.
Photo courtesy of PBA Images
Lassiter also said the Beermen had had a difficult time in the first half, before eventually shooting the lights out in the second half to create separation.
The Beermen shot 45 percent from three-point area, and also scored 28 points off 23 Star turnovers. Lassiter himself shot 6-for-12 from beyond the arc.
“Star is a strong team. They have a three-game win streak and they are growing. It was not going to be easy. In the first half it was close. Even in the second half. Once we made our shots, we kind of opened the gap, and we just held on defensively. We couldn’t do it without all our players,” Lassiter said, also crediting his teammates for setting him up for good looks.
“And I couldn’t do it without my teammates. They are trying to give me extra space tonight, and when I shot (the ball) it just went in tonight.”
