After averaging 14.6 points and 9.0 rebounds throughout August to September, Kyle Neypes saw his numbers drop to 6.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in Binan City-Krah Pipes’ last eight outings.
But despite the decline in his numbers, Binan City head coach Denok Miranda never lost faith in the 6-foot-2 bruiser.
And it showed when the Heroes took on the Caloocan Supremos, Thursday evening.
With the game heading down the wire, Miranda replaced Macky Acosta – who has been playing well all night long – with the struggling Neypes.
The former NU stalwart wasted no time to repay his mentor’s trust, converting a bucket off a beautiful lob pass from Allan Mangahas to give his squad a 70-68 advantage over Caloocan Supremos with 22.9 seconds remaining in the game.
James Mangahas was able to snatch the ball from the Supremos on the other end. He then threw a bullet pass to Neypes, who once again played the hero and sank a layup to completely ice the game. with 1.1 ticks left.
Neypes couldn’t thank Miranda and his teammates enough for giving him all the chips despite those testing times that led to their fifth straight win to climb to ninth in the South Division of the 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go/MPBL Lakan Cup — just three games behind eighth-running Zamboanga.
“Sa mga teammates ko, saka kay coach Denok kasi nagtiwala sila sa akin kahit na foul trouble ako, ginamit pa rin nila ako nung patapos na yung game,” said the 27-year-old resident of Quezon City, following Binan’s 72-68 victory over Caloocan.
“Sobrang nagpapasalamat ako sa mga teammates ko saka kay coach Denok kasi mas maganda yung nilalaro ni Macky [Acosta] pero nagtiwala pa rin sila sakin. Talagang sobrang laki ng tiwala nila sa akin at nagpapasalamat ako don.”
Neypes finished the game with 12 points and four boards while helping Binan maintain the seventh spot in the Southern Division with a 10-13 record.
“Masaya ako para sa kanya kasi nag-step up siya. Kailangan ko siya eh, lalo na sa depensa. Silang dalawa ni Ivan [Vilannueva], salamat talaga ako sa kanya kasi nag-deliver siya,” said Miranda.
In other results, Mindoro escaped the also-ran Rizal-Xentro Mall, 74-73, while 1Bataan survived Allyn Bulanadi’s late-game surge, 91-83, to keep the seventh slot in the Northern Division.
Story by Jonash Dannug
Photo by Thel Suliva
