Express rally past B. Pier

MARK Yee of Globalport (front) and KG Canaleta of Air21 battle for the rebound. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

JOSEPH Yeo completed his first career triple-double last night and helped Air21 rally from 18 points down for a 109-103 overtime decision of Globalport that snapped a three-game slide by the Express in the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup at Mall of Asia Arena.

The last two of Yeo’s 19 points was made possible by his triple-double-sealing 10th rebound, which came off an RR Garcia miss from three-point range, as he canned two free throws with 45.5 seconds left that made it 105-100.

Asi Taulava was in vintage form, hitting the first six Air21 points in overtime that ushered the Express to a 99-95 lead, a buffer which they protected all the way to winning for just the second time in 10 games overall.

Globalport, which got 35 points from Sol Mercado, lost for the second straight game for a 4-6 slate.

Yeo, the 6-foot former La Salle ace who has had stints with several other teams before landing a spot back in former collegiate coach Franz Pumaren’s squad, also had a career-high 14 assists, the last resulting in a Taulava layup with 3:14 left for 99-93.
Taulava forged overtime at 93-all after hitting a layup also off a Yeo feed. The 6-foot-9 Fil-Tongan wound up with 28 points—his highest PBA output in five years—and 13 rebounds before fouling out with still 2:22 left.

“I guess this is really the (kind of) team that we are trying to envision,” Pumaren told reporters later. “Everyone played well. It was a terrific team effort. They never stopped playing even if we were down big (in the first half).”

Mac Cardona also contributed 28 points highlighted by the last four Air21 points with Vic Manuel and KG Canaleta also finishing in twin digits and combining for another 21 markers and 17 rebounds.

“In spite of the losses (earlier), we are still upbeat,” Pumaren said. “We (coaching staff) are talking to management to get additional support by January. Simon (Atkins) is out for the conference and we need a point guard and another big man.”

Pumaren refused to divulge the identities of the players that they are chasing, though.

The scores:

First Game

AIR21 109—Taulava 28, Cardona 28, Yeo 19, Manuel 14, Canaleta 11, Camson 5, Jaime 2, Custodio 2, Menor 0, Arboleda 0, Sharma 0.

GLOBALPORT 103—Mercado 35, Washington 21, Romeo 16, Salva 9, Lingganay 7, Menk 5, Salvador 4, Yee 2, Hayes 2, Garcia 2, Nabong 0, Chua 0.

Quarters: 21-32, 47-53, 70-66, 93-93, 109-103