With their back-to-back championship bid hanging in the balance, James Yap couldn’t have picked a better time to explode.
Yap recorded his best scoring performance this conference, helping the B-Meg Llamados live another day by tripping the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in last night’s Game 5, 91-81, and extending the best-of-seven championship series of the 37th PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Yap coughed up 30 points on 13-for-23 shooting from the field, putting up his finest game in the conference that allowed the Llamados to trim their series deficit, 2-3.
Although Rain or Shine still leads the series, another debacle on Friday’s Game 6 will definitely change the complexion of the series.
“We just wanted to enjoy the series. We’re down in the series but we just thought not to put more pressure on ourselves and just play a relaxed basketball game,” said Yap.
And play loose Yap did as he went to work early and scored 11 points in the opening period. The Llamados led by as many as seven points in the second period and nursed slim leads throughout the third.
B-Meg finally registered the game’s first double-digit lead when Rafi Reavis opened the fourth with a putback, pegging the score, 72-61.
The lead ballooned to 77-63 but Ryan Araña converted a rare four-point play then added a triple that pushed the Painters to within seven, 70-77.
B-Meg made six unanswered points, Araña stopped the mini run with a triple but the Llamados staged an 8-4 run to erect a safe, 91-77, advantage with 1:40 left.
Marqus Blakely backed Yap with 24 points, while Yancy de Ocampo chipped in 14.
Jamelle Cornley paced the Painters with 25 points, while Jeff Chan and Araña had 11.
After scoring a personal-best 18 points in their, 94-89 Game 4 win, Gabe Norwood was a non-entity last night where he laid a big fat egg.
Rain or Shine lost big man Beau Belga in the 4:37 mark of the third period after incurring his second technical foul and B-Meg played without workhorse Marc Pingris, who rested a stiffed neck, a result of a hard foul given by Araña in Game 4.
BOX SCORES
B-MEG (91)- Yap 30, Blakely 24, De Ocampo 14, Barroca 9, Simon 7, Urbiztondo 2, Villanueva 2, Reavis 2, Gaco 1.
RAIN OR SHINE (81)- Cornley 25, Chan 14, Araña 11, Cruz 8, Ibanes 6, Buenafe 5, Belga 4, Quinahan 4, Tang 2, Rodriguez 2, Norwood 0. QUARTERSCORES: 19-18, 44-41, 70-61, 91-81.