PBA: Yeo goes scoreless as Kia snaps losing skid with win over Barako

The Kia Carnival limited the league's top team Barako Bull Energy to forty points less than their average to come out with a 71-68 victory on Wednesday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Joseph Yeo was held scoreless in 39 minutes on the field, hitting none of his 11 attempts.

"It's a very hard game coming from two losses. It's very hard for us especially kalaban namin number one," said Kia assistant coach Chito Victoleto, who divulged that he's familiar with Barako's system as Barako head coach Koy Banal is his mentor. "I told my players it's a defensive game. I know Coach Koy, he's my mentor esp on defense. Majority ng sistema ko sa depensa galing kay Coach Koy. Number one si Joseph Yeo sa defense namin. We want him to pass the ball and not to take the shot."

Jet Chang led Kia in the low-scoring affair, tallying 15 points with six rebounds. LA Revilla added 10 points with five assists, three steals and three boards, while Hamady N'Diaye and Jason Deutchman chipped in eight points each while combining for 22 boards. Hans Thiele also provided valuable minutes on the floor, scoring nine points with four boards and one block in 12 minutes of play.

The two teams entered the final three minutes tied at 67-all, before Hyram Bagatsing scored on a layup. Liam McMorrow earned a trip to the line at the other end, but the import only split to keep the Carnival ahead.

A Joseph Yeo turnover led to a split from Virgil Buensuceso, as the two teams exchanged misses. As Yeo missed another attempt from deep with 12 ticks to go, Barako was forced to foul Kia's Bagatsing. Bagatsing missed the first before nailing the second, as JC Intal and RR Garcia missed potential game-tying treys to hand Kia the victory.

Chico Lanete topscored for Barako with 13 points, while Liam McMorrow was limited to 12 points with 12 rebounds off a 5 of 12 shooting clip. JC Intal had four points, while Carlo Lastimosa and RR Garcia added 13 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench. - GMA News


The scores:

KIA 71 - Chang 15, Revilla 10, Thiele 9, Bagtsing 9, N'Diaye 8, Deutchman 8, Alvarez 5, Webb 4, Buensuceso 3, Dehesa 0, Nuyles 0, Pascual 0.

BARAKO 68 - Lastimosa 13, Lanete 13, McMorrow 12, Garcia 11, Maierhofer 9, Intal 4, Wilson 4, Pascual 2, Yeo 0, Hubalde 0, Chua 0, Ababou 0.

Quarters: 18-23, 35-34, 54-54, 71-68