Davao Occidental claw San Juan in OT thriller, draws first blood in MPBL Finals

Thanks to its trademark defense, Davao Occidental took the opening game of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League’s Lakan Season National Finals after needing five extra minutes to dispatch San Juan, 77-75 Wednesday evening at the Subic Bay Gymnasium.

Parading the league’s second-best defense by limiting their opponents to almost 72 points per outing, the Tigers of Don Dulay leaned on their press and man-to-man coverage when it needed the most as they took the first step in avenging their stinging defeat in the Datu Cup National Finals in 2019, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series in the Subic bubble.

Veterans Mark Yee and Emman Calo each had 15 points and 4 steals to their line, with the former TerraFirma man adding eight rebounds and three dimes for an index rating of 23.

"This just shows the character of our team. We don't give up. Siyempre playing with San Juan, it's different, we kind of like (thinking about) payback," said the captain of the South champions, who were a defensive stop away from winning the MPBL crown two years ago.

The loss also wasted Mike Ayonayon’s game-high 27 markers and a similar index rating as Yee’s, as San Juan were badly let down by crucial turnovers down the stretch.

Davao also made a killing at the foul line, hitting 81% from the field with the Calo, the ex-UV Green Lancer went perfect by hitting all of his nine attempts there.

The Tigers came from as much as eleven points down to force overtime, in which they scored eight straight in the final 2:28 of regulation that knotted the game at 68.

Despite blowing their lead in the extra session with San Juan’s 5-0 blitz, Davao sealed the deal with Yee hitting the final three points of the game from stripe, which alternated two huge defensive stops that gave them the series opener, including a massive block by Billy Ray Robles on Ayonayon in the final seconds.

The Knights will have a chance in levelling the series in game two, Thursday afternoon.

The scores:

DAVAO OCCIDENTAL 77 – Yee 15, Calo 15, Custodio 12, Robles 9, Mocon 9, Balagtas 6, Terso 5, Ludovice 2, Gaco 2, Saldua 2, Albo 0

SAN JUAN 75 – Ayonayon 27, Wilson 15, Rodriguez 9, Clarito 9, Isit 4, Tajonera 3, Estrella 2, Gabawan 2, Reyes 2, Pelayo 2, Aquino 0

Quarter scores: 15-15, 30-30, 49-43, 68-68 (reg.), 77-75 (OT)

PHOTOS: MPBL