MANILA, Philippines - James Yap closed out the game the way he started it – in explosive fashion.
Yap unloaded nine points in the final quarter to cap a 25-point performance that included 11 first quarter points as B-Meg exacted revenge on Meralco, 95-79, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome last night.
The top B-Meg gunner actually struggled in the middle quarters after a fiery start but regained his rhythm just in time to help turn what had been a close contest into a runaway win, their fourth against the same number of losses.
B-Meg coach Tim Cone lauded Yap’s brilliance but stressed the Llamados pulled off the win through collective effort and their tough defense.
“James just exploded and took over the game in the last four minutes the way great players do,” said Cone. “But overall it was a great team performance, everybody contributed defensively into the game plan.”
June Peter Simon also came through in the clutch, firing 12 of his 17 points in the final period. But he was pulled out after tweaking an ankle after stepping on a foot of a Meralco player, making him a doubtful starter in B-Meg’s game against Cone’s former team Alaska Milk tomorrow.
Meralco, which beat B-Meg, 84-78, last Oct. 15 at the San Juan gym, fell to 5-4.
Mark Cardona and Sol Mercado, who didn’t see action the first time out with various injuries, combined for 27 points but failed to steer the team to a repeat victory.
In the nightcap, Rain or Shine pounced on the ejection of Barako Bull coach Junel Baculi early in the fourth quarter to hack out a 93-81 win that clinched it the solo lead on a 7-1 (win-loss) record.
Paul Lee came through with another solid all-around game with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a steal as the Elasto Painters dealt the Energy their third loss against five wins that was good for third place.
Cone also credited the victory to his players getting comfortable with his vaunted Triangle Offense.
“I think we spent the first half of this conference trying to learn the plays of the Triangle,” said Cone. “In the second half, we really just want to play and we have the patterns and knowledge now and it’s a matter of this growing and evolving in the system.
“Collectively as a team, we know we’ll have this game coming after we spent our nine-day break watching Chicago Bulls game in 1992 and 1993,” added Cone, referring to the NBA champion team coached by Triangle gurus Phil Jackson and Tex Winter.