MANILA: Yancy de Ocampo has played so mediocre the last two seasons that, even being 6-foot-10 with a great offensive touch, he has practically become a forgotten man.

On Wednesday night, in a game where one of the talented new giants in the PBA couldn’t really get going, De Ocampo stepped up to the plate and lifted San Miguel Beer to an 88-80 overtime victory over NLEX for the PBA Philippine Cup lead at the Cuneta Astrodome.

June Mar Fajardo, the yardstick among big men whom De Ocampo now backs up, struggled all night against Asi Taulava and fouled out in the dying seconds of overtime, giving Yancy the stage to shine — and the chance to redeem himself after bungling the possession that dragged the Beermen into extension.

“Thank God we salvaged this game, this is very important for us (in the race for a top two berth),” San Miguel coach Leo Austria told scribes. “He (De Ocampo) redeemed himself in overtime. I have to give credit to him for keeping his focus and concentration.

“It would have been a sure win for us had Yancy not lost that ball,” Austria said.

De Ocampo scored the first five points of extension, which came shortly after he had lost the ball to Sean Anthony that led to a Jonas Villanueva triple for a 78-all tie that forged overtime.

The first three of those points came via a short stab with a foul to boot from Taulava, as De Ocampo also took out the NLEX center because of fouls with 4:23 left in overtime.

He then made it an 83-78 San Miguel lead with another basket in their next possession, before issuing a no-look pass to a cutting Alex Cabagnot that sandwiched a Villanueva basket on the other end for 85-80 heading into the final two minutes.

The win was the eighth in nine games for the Beermen, who now have an inside track on one of two automatic Final Four berths after breaking its tie with idle Alaska.

The Road Warriors, on the other hand, are now at 4-5 and would need to win their last two games in order to even think of gaining a twice-to-beat advantage in the first round of the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, GlobalPort achieved its humble goal of gaining a twice-to-beat advantage in the first phase of the quarterfinals after surviving Meralco, 108-104, in the curtain raiser.

Starring Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle – the Batang Pier’s two-headed monster – GlobalPort bounced back hard after losing a 24-point third quarter lead to up its winning streak to three and improve to 6-3.

With that record, the Batang Pier are assured of finishing at sixth at the worst after the elimination round, meaning, a first phase match-up with No. 7 and needing to win just once to advance to the next round.

They still have two games remaining, and coach Pido Jarencio had given hints that Romeo and Pringle, after combining for 51 points against the Bolts, could be given much needed breathers in those contests.

“We’ve accomplished our objective of gaining a twice-to-beat (advantage),” Jarencio said. “We still have two more games (in the eliminations) and because we are going to the playoffs, we need to finish strong.

“But it (playing Romeo and Pringle extensively in those games) would all depend on who we will play in the first round (of the quarterfinals),” he said. “I need them fresh for the playoffs.”

Romeo scored 12 of his 33 points in the fourth period, engaging the veteran Jimmy Alapag in a shootout in that stretch.

Alapag, plucked out of retirement by the Bolts from sister team Talk ‘N Text at the start of the season, scored 15 in the payoff frame and succeeded in giving Meralco life after trailing, 53-77, midway through the third quarter.

The Bolts even led, 96-94 with under four minutes left before the Batang Pier regained their offensive tough through Romeo for a finishing kick Meralco couldn’t matcg.

With the loss, the Bolts dropped to 1-9 and practically kissed its chances of advancing past this round goodbye, quite a letdown for the team rated to be at the middle of the pack before the season began.

Pringle, last season’s top rookie, had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists but was also big in the clutch with a triple that gave the Batang Pier a 98-96 lead.

Alapag wound up with 18 points in the worthiest game of his comeback, with Cliff Hodge shooting 17 that went with 10 rebounds.