MANILA, Philippines – Be more mature.

Terrence Romeo highlighted the need to control his emotions better after losing his cool when San Miguel met his former team NorthPort in the quarterfinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday, July 21.

Romeo figured in a few heated exchanges with former teammate Nico Elorde as they tried to guard each other early in the final frame. 

With their individual matchup getting more intense and physical, Romeo was whistled for back-to-back fouls on Elorde – an offensive and a personal – until he was subbed out to prevent things from escalating.

The Beermen then were up by just a whisker, 78-77, before they pulled away late en route to a 98-84 victory to force a knockout match against the twice-to-beat Batang Pier. 

“Everything that happens on the court stays on the court – even if we hit each other, elbow each other or what, no problem. That’s part of the game,” Romeo said in Filipino after the game. 

“Players try to get under each other’s skin, that’s also part of the game. When a player loses his temper, that’s also part of the game. Those are emotions. That happens in games – in all games.” 

“There’s no perfect player. I’ll learn from this. I need to learn to be more mature in those kind of situations. I now know that I should not participate in those kind of things.” 

As San Miguel looks to pull off another massive win over NorthPort, Romeo said there’s still room for improvement when they clash in a knockout match for a semis berth at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, July 24.

“We need to focus on the good things that we do. And then we need to review the lapses that we commit,” he said. – Rappler.com