Meralco's Chris Newsome on Game 5 vs San Miguel: 'It's our turn to punch back'

For Meralco's Chris Newsome, Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup finals series against San Miguel will be their 'turn to punch back.'

Newsome said this after posting a career-high 40 points in Game 4 of the finals on Wednesday where the Bolts lost, 111-101, bringing the series to 2-2.

"We're back to square one, so now it's our turn to punch back," Newsome said.

"It's gonna be a grind out for the rest of the series but we're gonna have the energy, we're gonna have to refocus, stay focused, and just get back to playing our basketball."

While Newsome had a career-high performance, the Bolts guard said he would have preferred a win for Meralco that day.

"Forty points, but we lost. I'll trade that 40 points for a win any day," Newsome said on Wednesday. "It's great that I scored 40, but for me, the win is definitely more important."

Newsome, though, credited the Beermen for their performance and said the Bolts will just try to bounce back on Friday in Game 5.

"They showed up to play today. You gotta give credit to that," he said.

"For us, get back to the drawing board and get back to playing Meralco basketball which is staying defensive-minded. I think we lost a little bit of that today."

—JKC, GMA Integrated News