MANILA, Philippines – Losing is simply part of life.

That was how Bennie Boatwright put it after seeing his flawless run with San Miguel end with an 88-80 loss to Magnolia in Game 3 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals on Wednesday, February 7.

“When you lose, it is a part of life. You win some, you lose some. But no need to overreact,” said Boatwright.

“I try to stay even-keeled, whether we win a game, whether we lose a game, just staying in the same mental space,” he added.

A replacement for original Beermen import Ivan Aska, Boatwright won all of his first nine games with San Miguel before the finals as he normed 34.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1 block – numbers that have put him in Best Import contention.

The 6-foot-8 talent still sustained his stellar play in Game 1 of the title series, helping tow the Beermen past the Hotshots with 28 points, 16 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Boatwright again took charge in Game 2 with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists to steer the Beermen to a franchise-record-tying 11th straight victory.

But his unbeaten streak came to a screeching halt as the defensive-minded Hotshots limited San Miguel to its lowest scoring output of the conference.

Although Boatwright still put up 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 steals in Game 3, he made just 10 of his 28 field goals and committed a conference-high 8 turnovers in nearly 45 minutes of action.

“They played well. Got to give them credit. That is a good team we played. We expected them to come out and played well today and credit to them, they got the win,” said Boatwright.

Adopting a level-headed approach, Boatwright already has his eyes set on a bounce-back win in Game 4 on Friday, February 9, at the Araneta Coliseum.

“We’ll go watch the film, learn from our mistakes, see what we can expose defensively for them. It is going to get better.” – Rappler.com