‘Super Marcio’ finally regains deadly form

Marcio Lassiter finally snapped out of a scoring slump and delivered much-needed points, especially from long range, to help San Miguel Beer live to fight another day.

Beermen coach Leo Austria praised his veteran sniper’s patience and his crew’s dedication for giving him good looks as the Beermen averted a shutout in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors’ Cup best-of-five quarterfinals series against Barangay Ginebra.

Stuck at 0-of-12 from the field in the first two matches, Lassiter fired 13 points in San Miguel Beer’s 101-98 narrow escape in Game 3, extending the showdown on Tuesday at the packed City of Dasmarinas Arena in Cavite.

Lassiter went 4-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-8 from the three-point area, as the Beermen foiled the Kings’ first attempt to seal the series.

“Credit to Ginebra, because every time we face Ginebra, Marcio is always a marked man. He finds it difficult to get himself free from the defense,” Austria said.

Ginebra did a great job making life miserable for the league’s all-time record-holder for most made triples. He was scoreless in Game 1 and tallied only two points from the foul line in Game 2 despite playing an average of over 20 minutes.

With San Miguel’s back against the wall, Austria drew up a good game plan to get Lassiter open looks.

“But tonight, because some of our other players are scoring, the defense gave him opportunity to get himself free,” Austria said.

“His teammates were cheering him, saying, ‘Come on, Marcio’. They were also saying, ‘Let’s give Marcio an open shot.’ And then everybody’s helping him. I’m so thankful also for the attitude of the players, they were team players always looking for Marcio to get his shots.”

Lassiter played more than 27 minutes.

His two charities in the last 2:54 of the game gave the Beermen a 99-93 cushion, enough to keep the Kings at bay.

“Actually, he's supposed to sit earlier, but after making his shots, he got an extension. He asked us, ‘Why me?' We told him we're just giving him some rest. Afterwards, we sent him back in,” Austria said.

Lassiter added four rebounds, two assists and a steal for the Beermen.

San Miguel will try to take the series to the full distance on Friday in Game 4 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.