DAVAO CITY—Playing on one good leg, Davao Occidental captain Mark Yee wasn’t supposed to even be in this position—but there he was fighting for the ball against the Bicol frontline as the Tigers’ season hung in the balance.
The 38-year-old Yee, who sustained a partial ACL tear on his right knee and a calf tear just five days ago, summoned all of his strength, picking up the loose ball, preserving another possession for the Tigers.
That moment with barely a minute left in regulation and Davao ahead by just two points showed what Yee was all about: Fierce, fearless and selfless.
Taking cue from Yee’s inspiring effort, the Tigers went on to score a 64-56 overtime victory over the Volcanoes on Wednesday night to advance to the South division semifinals of the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season at a jampacked RMC Gym here.
Davao coach Don Dulay swears he has yet to see anything like Yee’s incredible performance in his playing career up until he moved into coaching.
“Our guys fought until the end,” Dulay said. “Mark Yee, I got a text going here. Partial ACL tear and torn calf from the last game but he told me he wants to play so what can you do? You got to let him fight.
I’ve never seen that before in my career.”
Yee finished with only four points and six rebounds, but most of his production came at a time when the Tigers needed it most with Billy Robles and Jerwin Gaco fouling out. Gaco had 10 points—all in the final period.