That’s why they call him Big Game James.
San Mig Super Coffee Mixers superstar James Yap scored 24 of his 30 points in the first half to power his team to a 110-87 victory over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in Game Seven of their Manila Clasico semifinals series on Wednesday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum before a new PBA record crowd of 24,883.
“Sarap lang maglaro kasi sobrang dami ng tao,” said Yap, who shot 7-of-10 from beyond the arc apart from grabbing six rebounds.
The win gave the Mixers the final ticket to the PLDT Home DSL Philippine Cup championship round, where they are set to face the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Friday.
Behind the hot hands of Yap and center Rafi Reavis, San Mig Coffee rolled to a 26-15 lead in the first quarter.
San Mig Coffee still led, 31-20, on a three-pointer by Yap early in the second quarter. But Ginebra’s main man Mark Caguioa, brandishing the never-say-die spirit, caught fire to carry his team back. Caguioa sparked a 14-3 run that allowed Ginebra to tie the game at 34-all.
But Yap returned to continue the onslaught for the Mixers, scoring 11 points in a 23-10 run that gave his team a 57-44 spread at halftime.
San Mig Coffee continued to nurse the lead in the second half, taking a 79-67 advantage heading into the final period.
Peter June Simon took over in the fourth quarter, where he scored 15 of his 28 points to keep Ginebra at bay.
He nailed two free throws with 2:53 remaining to push the lead to 18, 102-84.
Mark Barroca put the nail on the coffin a few moments later with a three-pointer, before Simon hit another jumper for a 107-84 bubble.
