DAVAO CITY — Hours before Davao Occidental-Cocolife’s win-or-go-home game against Bicol-LCC Stores Wednesday evening, the Tigers received the worst news they could possibly get.
Mark Yee was initially diagnosed with a torn plantaris muscle in his right knee after a collision he suffered last February 21 during Game Two of the Chooks-to-Go/MPBL Lakan South quarterfinals. That injury alone should have sidelined him for at least two months.
As the swelling subsided a day before Game Three, the MRI results showed something much worse — the 38-year-old had a partial anterior cruciate ligament tear and a torn calf.
But the grizzled veteran still decided to suit up for Davao Occidental on Wednesday evening at the RMC Petro Gazz Gym here.
“He has a partial tear in his ACL and a torn calf. The doctors told me that he was not supposed to play, but Mark came up to me and said that he wanted to fight,” said Tigers head coach Don Dulay.
“What can I say to a guy who wants to fight? You have to let him fight!”
Yee first saw action in the game with 3:46 left in the first half. That may have been just to pump up the crowd, which was tense all throughout the contest.
The 6-foot-2 bruiser grabbed a couple of rebounds, threw up a triple that badly missed, and even had a steal to his name during the three minutes he played.
Yee would again play another five minutes in the third canto. Again maybe, just to hype up the crowd, which certainly did its job.
Seeing the efforts of the King Tiger, the rest followed suit. Seldom-used players like Jerwin Gaco, Kenneth Mocon, and Richard Albo played big during the fourth quarter. Still, Bicol kept toe-to-toe with them.
“Sobrang fighter ni Mark. Kahit may injury siya at kahit hindi siya pinayagan maglaro, pinakita niya sa amin na laban siya,” said Gaco, a former rival turned teammate, who scored all 10 of his points in the last 10 minutes of the quarter to go along with eight boards.
“Kaya kami, lumaban din kami para sa kanya.”
Bicol was able to send the game into overtime, though. Making matters worse for Davao Occidental, both Gaco and Billy Ray Robles fouled out.
This left Dulay with no other recourse but to play Yee.
“I was concerned about his health, but Mark wanted it bad. You got to let him play.”
Playing through adrenaline and probably painkillers, Yee anchored the Tigers’ defense in extra time, holding the Volcanoes scoreless. Davao Occidental eventually took the game, 64-56, to advance to the next round.
For Yee, he just left it all on the line for his team that gave him a new lease on life.
“Papunta pa lang kami dito, sinabi ko na na panalo kami rito,” said Yee, who ended up with four points, six rebounds, and three steals.
“Hindi ko alam kung ano ang bumuhat sa akin kanina. Siguro dasal lang.”
Up next for Davao Occidental is a hungry Zamboanga-Family’s Brand Sardines squad, which defeated Batangas-Tanduay earlier in the day 69-52.
And Yee — who had a visible limp to his step after the game — is once again leaving to faith his status for the upcoming best-of-three series that begins on Monday, March 2.
“Bahala na ‘yung mga coaches at si Lord. Basta kailangan lang namin ipagpatuloy na respetuhin ‘yung kalaban namin at maging humble lang palagi.”
