Giants defense shackles Aces

Purefoods Chunkee rediscovered its old lethal weapon— defense — last night and stalled Alaska Milk, 82-79, in Game Three of their Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup Final Four confrontation at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Giants hustled almost throughout and came through with defensive gems down the stretch as they stopped the Aces and reduced Alaska’s lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

"We had some sort of identity crisis in the first two games. We thought we’re an offensive team only to realize we’re not. We buckled down on defense and it proved to be the right formula," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

"I have so much respect for coach Tim Cone. I know they will make adjustments. But we’ll play our game. We’ll drag them in a defensive game," Gregorio added.

The league’s best defensive team which yielded only an average of 79.9 points a game in the classification round, the Giants lost the first two games of the series by giving away 94 points in Game One and 86 in Game Two.

Roger Yap made big defensive stops down the stretch and did his part offensively while James Yap saved his best for last to lead the Giants to the crucial win.

Roger scattered 19 points, his best production the last four years, while James added 15, including two decisive outside shots that held the Aces down at the finish.

"I kept my promise that I would make up for my poor games in the first two games," said Roger, who averaged only five points on an awful 25-percent clip in the first two games.

"Coach (Ryan) told me to play decoy in the early goings because Alaska’s leaving Roger open. It worked because Roger and I both delivered at the finish," said James, who made seven of his 15 points in the payoff period.

With Purefoods falling behind by four, 70-74, with time down to 3:09, the two Yaps (not relatives) combined for the team’s next 10 points and the Giants surged ahead at 80-76 with only 9.9 seconds to go.

Alaska cut the lead to one on a three-point play by Mike Cortez off a foul by James Yap with time down to 3.5 seconds.

The Aces then quickly sent Jun Limpot at the stripe but the former La Salle Archer showed poise under pressure, knocking both charities to seal the win.

With no timeout left for Alaska, Willie Miller could only throw a prayer of a shot beyond midcourt. The Purefoods bench and supporters erupted in a frenzied celebration as Miller’s long heave overhit the rim at the buzzer.