Saturday, November 03, 2007 Yap rallies Purefoods with 18 in last quarter
MANILA - When the chips are down, Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants turned to James Yap, who responded with a big 18 points in the fourth quarter to key an 87-77 win over the Welcoat Dragons on Friday in the 33rd Smart-PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Yap, the 2006 Most Valuable Player, took the cudgels for the Giants, scoring more than half of Purefoods’ 29 points in the deciding canto to remain unbeaten in four matches.
The 4-0 start by the Giants is their best since the 2002 Governors’ Cup.
And with the loss, which was Welcoat’s third against a lone victory, the Dragons have yet to beat the Giants since joining the professional league last year.
But coach Ryan Gregorio doesn’t want his wards to be overconfident, saying that it’s always hard to remain on top.
“Obviously, we are having a good start. It is our best in years. But I don’t want it to cause problems later on, jut like what happened in the past, we found ourselves struggling in the end,” said Gregorio, whose Giants owned four All-Filipino titles in the PBA.
After the last deadlock at 68-all, Yap buried a triple on top of the key and when Welcoat made a turnover he scored again on a drive to push the Giants on top by five points, 73-68, only 5:55 left in the final quarter.
“Welcoat did a good job particularly in the first two periods. But it’s just nice to have players like James Yap and Kerby Raymundo. They are so matured. But the biggest revelation was Chico Lanete,” added Gregorio.
True to Gregorio’s words, the Dragons with Nic Belasco, Jay-Arr Reyes, Rob Wainright and top draftee Joe Devance, a 6’7 Fil-Am, who once played with the University of El Paso, Texas in the American NCAA Division I, have shown enough maturity and poise that kept them under control even during tighter times.
Welcoat fought closely hard in the first two quarters trying to prevent the Giants to take leads by more than five points on a tight defensive job by Nick Belasco and Rob Wainright.
Rommel Adducul scored on a jumper to post a 9-4 advantage in the first 3 three minutes, but Welcoat’s Wainright and Jay-Arr Reyes conspired a 6-0 run to cut down the deficit to only within, 14-15, still 4:19 remaining in the first quarter.
Reyes defied the outstrect arm of Kerby Raymundo to grab the upperhand for Welcoat, 20-19, going into the second period.
The 6’5 Raymundo, a member of the RP national squad, which saw action in the 2007 FIBA-Asia Championship last August in Tokushima, Japan, scored two straight baskets to move the Giants on top by three points, 23-19, just 2:27 gone in the second period. (FCC)
