Yes, yes Yeo: Barako Bull streaks to fourth victory

MANILA: Joseph Yeo could be smiling down on his former team right now.
The acrobatic, high-flying swingman on Sunday afternoon was brilliant for Barako Bull yet again, playing big in the final quarter and leading the Energy to their fourth straight win in the PBA Governors’ Cup, a 105-99 plastering of Meralco at the Araneta Coliseum.
Yeo, traded before the start of the season-ending conference by Barangay Ginebra for Sol Mercado from Globalport, scored 28 points — 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter — as the Energy remained the only unbeaten side in the 12-team event to stay atop the standings.
Barako Bull actually started out slowly and got going only in the second half, erasing a 19-point first quarter deficit on the way to dealing the Bolts their third loss in five games.
The Gin Kings, who revamped their roster when Frankie Lim took over as coach, are at 2-3 and lagging way behind the pace being set by Yeo and his Energy teammates.
“I am really thankful that Joseph (Yeo) went to us,” Barako Bull coach Koy Banal said. “When we heard that he was going to be traded, it was a no-brainer for us. We immediately started to chase him.”
Yeo’s performance made up for the 19-point night of hulking import Liam McMorrow, who played on borrowed time after picking up three fouls in the first half.
McMorrow, though, collared 23 boards as the Energy mangled the Bolts off the glass, 55-41.
It was a particularly bitter pill for the Bolts to swallow after they controlled action early in the first quarter when they turned a 6-2 deficit into a 13-6 lead. They would close out the half still enjoying a 52-41 edge.
“We allowed Meralco to outhustle us early on,” Banal explained. “It’s just a really good thing that my players did not give up and kept on playing.”
After yielding 33 first quarter points, the Energy gave up just 40 points in the second and third periods and entered the fourth quarter staring at just a 75-73 deficit.
Jake Pascual had a big offensive night, highlighting a 12-point effort with two consecutive baskets in the stretch that helped douse cold water on the last of Meralco’s fightbacks, 103-99, going into the last 66 seconds.
And then it was Yeo who sealed the win by converting two free throws with 36.9 seconds remaining for the final score.
Andre Emmet fired 32 points to pace the Bolts, but had just six in the final frame. Cliff Hodge was the second and last Bolt to toss in twin digits with 17.
Gary David, Meralco’s leading local scorer, fired just nine markers, while Seiya Ando, the former Japan national team member, contributed just eight.
RR Garcia tossed in 14 ponrs and Pascual and third-string center Justin Chua drilled in 12 apiece for the Energy, who also had a similar hot start in the last conference before blowing cold during the most crucial stretch of the elimination round.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer extended its winning streak to three games later in the night, a 100-89 drubbing of defending champion Star (formerly Purefoods).
It was a physical game between the sister squads as even coach Tim Cone of the Hotshots charged at San Miguel’s Arwind Santos in the fourth quarter and confronted the former MVP because of his play.
Santos swung elbows to the face of Star import Marqus Blakely in one rebound play. Although he did it intentionally without connecting, the act didn’t sit well with Cone, who went to the court to confront Santos.
The San Miguel forward was slapped with his second technical because of that and was thrown out of the court.
Because of some physical plays, the game had some excitement and drowned the fact that the Beermen played with control practically the entire game.
San Miguel, which got 29 points and 11 rebounds from Arizona Reid and 21 and 20 from reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo, led from start to finish and was 52-33 ahead early in the third period.
Blakely paced the Hotshots with 29 points and 15 rebounds with Marc Barroca shooting 15 and James Yap 11.