Austria chases time to jell

HONG KONG — San Miguel Beer head coach Leo Austria said there was little time to prepare for the EASL game against Eastern but despite schedule constraints, the Beermen recovered from a 20-point deficit to trim the gap to two in the fourth quarter only to run out of steam down the stretch, dropping a 71-62 decision at the Southorn Stadium here Wednesday night.

Austria was handed the San Miguel reins the day before he made his PBA return at the helm Friday last week. He led the team to victory then two days later, the Beermen notched another win. San Miguel had only one practice with imports Quincy Miller and Torren Jones together to prepare for Eastern.

“Kulang sa oras,” said Austria. “Naglaro kami Friday tapos Sunday tapos lipad kami to Hong Kong Tuesday at laro muli Wednesday.” Austria made a master stroke against Eastern when he went big with Miller, Jones and June Mar Fajardo, creating size mismatches that left the hometowners in disarray. San Miguel trailed by two, 60-58, time down to 6:16. But Eastern coach Mensur Bajramovic switched to a zone to take away San Miguel’s inside position then used a small lineup to fuel transition. What cracked San Miguel’s momentum was Kobey Lam stealing the ball from Miller’s grasp face-to-face and racing upcourt to score on a three-point play with 5:31 to go. Eastern went on an 11-0 blitz to seal it. San Miguel team manager Gee Abanilla said the Beermen are still working on their zone offense in Austria’s system and CJ Perez could’ve provided a spark but sat out the fourth quarter with a bruised hand.  Juami Tiongson didn’t see action due to a groin strain.

Bajramovic said he’s looking forward to facing San Miguel again in the PBA tomorrow. Last Wednesday, Eastern played with a single import Chris McLaughlin and leaned on Bay Area veterans Lam, Glenn Yang and Hayden Blankley who combined for 37 points.

Miller wasn’t taped for the game and scored five points on 2-of-9 from the floor. San Miguel has brought in 6-9 Jabari Narcis of the University of Texas at Arlington to replace Miller. Jones and Narcis will likely suit up for the Beermen in their three remaining EASL games against Hiroshima on Jan. 8, Hong Kong on Jan. 15 and Suwon on Feb. 12. San Miguel is the only winless team in EASL and once two teams notch four wins in Group A, it will be out of contention for the Final Four.