SUBIC—Mark Yee hit what turned out to be the championship-clinching triple with 13.4 seconds left in overtime on Sunday as Davao Occidental claimed the MPBL Lakan Cup title at the expense of hard-fighting San Juan in Game 4 of the hotly contested title series at Subic Bay gym here.
It was sweet victory for the Tigers, who avenged a loss to the same rock-solid Knights in the Datu Cup finals as the Tigers wrapped up the best-of-five series, 3-1, with Yee also coming away with the Defensive Player of the Year award.
“Payback. It’s so much sweeter because we got it back from San Juan. We were so close the last time and it was heartbreaking as an organization,” said Tigers head coach Ron Dulay, who was also named Coach of the Year.
San Juan held an 88-86 lead going into the final 77 seconds and muffed the chance to pad that lead when Larry Rodriguez was called for an offensive foul that gave Yee the chance to launch the winner.
As soon as the final buzzer sounded, the Tigers couldn’t help but turn emotional with Joseph Terso, Billy Robles, Eman Calo and Yee shedding tears.
“We helped each other out,” said Yee, who raised his arms and pointed to the heavens as the ball dropped in. He finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds and was named title series MVP.
Calo supported Yee with 22 points, Terso and Robles chipped in 11 each.
Rodriguez led San Juan with 19 points and eight rebounds with Jhonard Clarito accounting for 18 and 11.
CJ Isit finished with 14 points and 10 assists for the vanquished Knights.
The Tigers won the series opener, 77-75, in overtime, before the Knights equalized in Game 2, 70-76.
They claimed Game 3, 66-58, to gain momentum in the battle for the national championship trophy worth P10 million given by MPBL COO and founder Sen. Manny Pacquiao and handed out by commissioner Kenneth Duremdes.
John Wilson of San Juan was the MVP.