By Jeremiah Sevilla
The sweet payback has been completed.
Mark Yee fired the championship-winning three as Davao Occidental-Cocolife dethroned San Juan-Go For Gold with an 89-88 overtime victory in Game 4 of the MPBL Lakan Cup National Finals on Sunday night, March 21, at the Subic Bay Gymnasium.
Veteran forward Yee sank the go-ahead triple off Joseph Terso’s pass with 13.4 seconds left before the Tigers held off the Knights’ final attempts to force a decider in the finals of the third MPBL season backed by Chooks to Go.
The title win enabled Davao to exact revenge against the San Juan squad that beat them in the Datu Cup finals two years ago.
Yee finished with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds to go with three rebounds and three blocks in an all-around effort for the bubble title.
Eman Calo topscored with 22 points while Billy Ray Robles and Terso chipped in 11 markers apiece for the Tigers.
Davao mounted a 37-21 lead in the second quarter but Season MVP John Wilson willed San Juan back into the game.
The Knights even took an 80-78 lead off Larry Rodriguez’s scoop shot with 1:13 left in the fourth quarter but Terso canned two free throws to force overtime.
Rodriguez led San Juan with 19 points and eight rebounds even as Jhonard Clarito and CJ Isit had 18 and 14 markers, respectively.
Wilson had 13 points and five boards for the Knights, who sorely missed the services of PBA standout Mike Ayonayon in the latter part of the game.
