MANILA, 28 February 2008 — What a way for James Yap to make up for lost time.
Yap returned to active duty to make all the difference for Purefoods last night, shooting 20 points in the fourth period of the 89-81 victory over Sta. Lucia that pushed the best-of-seven series for the Philippine Cup into a deciding game at the Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-2 gunslinger hit five triples in that span alone, finishing with 30 points to eventually outscore the entire Sta. Lucia starting unit and provide his finest moment in the series that has had its memorable battles on the floor and off it.
Yap was out of a 76-88 Game 5 loss after serving out a one-game suspension for a hard foul on Joseph Yeo in Game 3. He was lethargic in the first three periods, throwing bricks most of the time, before catching fire when it truly mattered. “This game was special because there was no tomorrow for us (had we lost),” Yap, who came into the game with a 27.7-point average, told reporters in Filipino afterwards. “Now we have a chance to win (the series).”
“We wanted to survive against all odds and that’s what we did tonight,” Purefoods coach Gregorio said, very angry at how he talked. “It’s just great to have your MVP on the floor when it’s survival time.
“Deep in my heart, I believe we shouldn’t have lost James in Game 5.”
The Giants blew a 10-point halftime lead to even trail by four after Dennis Miranda hit a layup in the first play of the fourth quarter.
But Yap buckled down to work, hitting three of those threes in a four-minute span to lead a run that erased a 57-61 deficit and give the Giants a 71-64 lead with 7:15 left.
And after the Realtors crept within two after a Dennis Espino layup with 5:45 left, Yap hit two free throws and two more triples against an Espino free throw that shoved the Giants to a 79-70- lead with 3:02 to play.
Yap actually bailed himself out from a pitiful performance with that swashbuckling fourth quarter show. He hit 6-of-16 three-point shots and made just 2-of-8 two-pointers overall. But they still were enough to outscore the entire starting crew of Sta. Lucia, which was good for only 27 points. Espino came off the bench to pace the Realtors with 22, 15 of them coming in the final two periods.
Marc Pingris tossed in 19 points and finished with a career-high 21 rebounds, while Kerby Raymundo made up for a lackluster nine-point night with a career-best 11 feeds.
Kelly Williams labored hard all night, and unlike Yap , finished the game with a whimper.
Last season’s Rookie of the Year and winner of the Best Player of the Conference award finished with just nine points, his lowest output in the last 26 games. He also failed to score in twin digits for the first time since scoring five against Air21 in a November game. The Giants held a 40-30 advantage at the half, which matched their biggest lead after two quarters in the series, even with Yap shooting just 2-of-14 from the field for only eight points.
But the Realtors knotted the count at 50 after two free throws unrestricted rookie free agent Dennis Daa as Sta. Lucia answered the Giants shot for shot to ease ahead, 57-55 going into the final 12 minutes.
“Purefoods did a good job tonight,” said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez in blowing the first of two chances they have to win a second title for the franchise and their first all-Filipino crown. “It seemed we were quite tight and we started slow,” he added, before making a vow: “We’ll also be back also in Game 7, because the pressure is now over.”
