MANILA, Philippines – The San Miguel Beermen remain a confident squad even as they head into the quarterfinals of the 2017 PBA Governors' Cup on a losing note.

A painful 104-101 loss to the Meralco Bolts in their last game of the elimination round not only denied the Beermen a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, but also put them in a match-up against defending champion Barangay Ginebra.

The third-seeded Gin Kings will be armed with a twice-to-beat edge, meaning another loss will spell the end of San Miguel's hopes of winning a Grand Slam this season.

Yet the Beermen insist they are still in high spirits even as they head to battle against a dangerous Ginebra squad.

"Buo pa rin naman ang kumpyansa namin… Kaya pa naman 'yun," star center June Mar Fajardo said of their Grand Slam aspirations. "One game at a time lang."

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SMB point guard Chris Ross even believes that the Beermen's true capabilities will show up precisely because they are in a must-win situation against the Gin Kings.

"We play our best when our backs are against the wall," he said. "When the cards are against us, we play our best basketball."

"We know what we're playing for, and we're playing for something not a lot of teams have done in the league," he added.

Coach Leo Austria, for his part, acknowledged that they have a tall task in front of them. "Twice to beat sila," he said. "We'll try our best."

But he also pointed out that San Miguel has been in dire situations before – notably in the 2015-16 PBA Philippine Cup, where they trailed Alaska 0-3 in the best-of-seven Finals before winning four straight games.

That "Beeracle" run continues to be a rallying point for SMB whenever they find themselves in tough times.

"Maraming beses nang nangyari sa amin 'yun," said Austria. "We'll try again, kung ano ang magagawa namin, because we need two wins to get into the semifinals. 'Yung inaasam namin na mag-champion this conference, andoon pa din naman 'yun."

Further boosting San Miguel's confidence is their 107-103 win over Ginebra in the elimination round, which ended the Gin Kings' seven-game winning streak at the time.

"I never lose confidence in my team," said Ross. "My team never loses confidence. We're very confident going in, no matter what match-up we're going. We're very confident."

Ginebra and San Miguel face off on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

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