SUBIC — It was Mark Yee’s free throws and Billy Robles’ defensive stop that ultimately gave Davao Occidental-Cocolife the 77-75 victory in overtime over San Juan Knights in Game One of the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan National Finals at the Subic Bay Gymnasium here, Wednesday.
But in order to even push the game to extra period, the Tigers needed some unsung heroes in the form of Emman Calo and Bonbon Custodio.
Early in the final frame, the Knights built a 56-45 lead after two freebies by Mike Ayonayon at the 8:11 mark.
Davao Occidental head coach Don Dulay called Calo off the bench to change the tempo of the game. And that he did.
In the next four minutes, the Tigers went on a 12-4 blitz with Calo scoring nine to cut the Knights lead to just three, 60-57, with 3:49 left.
“Mindset ko lang doon na kailangan talaga namin manalo. Kailangan namin makuha ang game.
“I am so thankful kay God na umabot yung points ko doon. Bonus na lang siguro yun kasi karamihan naman doon free throws,” said Calo who finished with a team-high 15 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
But San Juan hiked its lead back to eight after Ayonayon’s triple at the 2:27 mark.
Then came the time of savvy veteran Custodio to show his wares.
The 5-foot-11 guard scored the Tigers’ five of the last eight points, including two charity stripe shots to send the game into overtime.
Custodio ended up with 12 markers, three boards, and three dimes.
“I remember going up against Bonbon Custodio in Liga Pilipinas. He is tufffffffff!” commented Jared Dillinger on the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas Facebook livestream of the match.
Custodio and Calo combined for 14 of Davao’s 19 fourth quarter points. And it’s safe to say that without them, the game could have not reached extra period.
