PHOENIX Petroleum-Far Eastern University (FEU) Coach Eric Garcia wasn’t exactly pleased with the way his troops performed in their last game.
During the postgame conference, Garcia said the Accelerators messed things up in the first half, and were particularly pissed off at their lack of respect for the game and their opponents.
To prevent things from blowing up, the low-key coach gave his troop some word of caution at halftime. He told them they are no magicians and that “we have to work hard if we intend to win.”
The pep talk worked like magic. The Accelerators played with a lot of energy and defensive focus in the second half, rallying from 20 points down to put away the Titans, 114-102 for their second straight win.
Garcia hopes his wards have learned from that chapter and will be a lot more disciplined when they take on the University of the Philippines-Jam Liner Maroons on Tuesday. Game time is set at 2 p.m. at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Complacency was also an issue for the Maroons in their 94-73 loss against CaféFrance last week.
The Maroons were physically present but were mentally absent in their game against the Bakers, who led by as many as 27 points on the way to a third straight win to tie idle Caida Tiles for the lead.
The four-day respite should help the Maroons get their acts together and bounce back from that embarrassing loss. UP-Jam Liner is seeking its third win in four games, while Phoenix Petroleum-FEU is aiming for No. 3 to tie co-leaders Caida Tiles and CaféFrance.
In the other game, AMA University and BDO-National University battle each other at 4 o’clock. The two teams bring up the rear with 0-2 cards.