Davao Occidental bags MPBL Lakan Cup crown; Mark Yee is finals MVP

The Davao Occidental Tigers are the new champions of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).

Davao Occidental survived the San Juan Knights, 89-88, via overtime in Game 4 of the best-of-five series of the MPBL Lakan Cup national finals held in the Subic Bay Convention Center on Sunday.

Mark Yee delivered the dagger trey with 14 seconds left that gave Davao Occidental the win after the two teams went neck-and-neck in the extra period.

Yee redeemed himself from a trey that he missed at the end of regulation and forced the game into overtime, 80-all.

The Knights, trying to come back to force a decider, launched a 29-point rampage against Davao's 16 points to end the third period, 60-56.

Davao led the Knights by as much as 16 points, 37-21, at the 3:16 mark of the second period before San Juan made an 8-0 run to trim their deficit. Eman Calo made three more points for Davao to give them the upper hand at the end of the first half, 40-31.

For Davao Occidental coach Don Dulay, Davao Occidental's win is a special one since they also went against San Juan in the finals last season.

"Payback. It's so much sweeter because we got it back from San Juan. We were so close last time and it was heartbreaking as an organization," said Dulay.

Yee, who was named Most Valuable Player at the finals, led Davao Occidental with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Calo listed 22. Terso and Billy Robles chipped in 11 points each.

Ex-pro player Larry Rodriguez listed 19 markers for San Juan while Jhonard Clarito added 18 points. John Wilson had 13 points.

Prior to the match, Wilson was given the season's most valuable player award after averaging 19.5 points and 6.15 rebounds per game in the season.

Chooks-to-Go MPBL LAKAN SEASON MVP ????
John Wilson
San Juan Knights - Go for Gold
????19.5 pts
????6.15 reb
????2.53 ast
????2.4 steals#ChooksMPBL #LigaNgBawatPilipino #chooksmpblfinals pic.twitter.com/xYgpM8KvOU

— Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (@MPBLOfficial) March 21, 2021

The playoffs of the MPBL Lakan Season resumed early this March, a year after the games were suspended due to the community quarantine imposed by the government.

Box scores:

Davao 89 – Calo 22, Yee 19, Terso 11, Robles 11, Mocon 9, Balagtas 8, Gaco 4, Saldua 3, Custodio 2, Ludovice 0.

San Juan 88 – Rodriguez 19, Clarito 18, Isit 14, Wilson 13, Wamar 7, Tajonera 6, Gabawan 4, Ayonayon 3, Aquino 2, Estrella 2, Reyes 0, Pelayo 0.

— Justin Kenneth Carandang/BM, GMA News