MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel head coach Leo Austria held back tears after his Beermen advanced to the semifinals of the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup following a 106-93 win over the TNT KaTropa Tuesday, March 7. 

Austria, during the post-game presser, turned emotional as he shared that his wife underwent a kidney transplant the night before. 

“I never had sleep last night because of my wife,” said the teary-eyed Austria. “She undergone (sic) a kidney transplant but thank you Lord, very successful operation for her.” 

It was a double victory for Austria with the Beermen, who held a twice-to-beat advantage, needing only one game to dispatch the pesky KaTropa and his wife now on her way to recovery. 

“I never had a problem for so long, but this time I’m so thankful to God dahil binigyan niya pa ako ng panalo. The players really played well. And wala na akong masasabi dahil God is always in our side,” said Austria.

The 5-time PBA champion said he was wary of the KaTropa heading into the clash, especially since TNT averaged a point differential of +23.5 points in its last two games to stay alive in playoff contention. 

Fortunately, June Mar Fajardo and Co. came to Austria’s rescue. Fajardo had a monster double-double of 35 points and 11 rebounds while 3 other Beermen finished in double figures. 

“We followed our game plan to the letter and that’s the result. Thank you, San Miguel, especially [to] my players for giving this win. Thank you.” 

San Miguel will have a few days to refresh as they wait for the winner of the Barangay Ginebra-Rain or Shine quarterfinals series in the best-of-7 semifinals clash. – Rappler.com