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HARBOUR
CENTRE moved closer to its goal of defending the title
after turning back Hapee-Philippine Christian University
(PCU), 84-80, yesterday in Game One of the Philippine
Basketball League (PBL) Silver Cup finals at the
Olivarez Sports Center in Parañaque City.
Recovering from a jittery start, the Port Masters also
had to overcome a late rally by the Teethmasters to take
the initiative in the best-of-five series.
National
University star Edwin Asoro led Harbour Centre with 17
points, 10 in the second quarter, while Ron Capati, JC
Intal and Ryan Araña made crucial baskets to stop
Hapee-PCU’s last-ditch attack in the fourth quarter.
Trailing, 69-71, the Portmasters uncorked a 10-3 run
capped by Capati’s basket to lead, 78-73, with
1:12 remaining in the fourth period.
Philip
Butel responded with two free throws for the
Teethmasters, but Intal and Capati split their own
charities to make it 80-75 with only 34.2 seconds left.
Butel’s
lay-up put Hapee-PCU within three, 80-77, but Araña and
Intal made their free throws to seal the win.
“We had
a bad start, but I’m glad that we were able to recover
in the fourth quarter. We have to work hard in Game Two
because Hapee will surely bounce back,” said Port
Masters coach Jorge Gallent.
Harbour
Centre won Game One of the finals for the first time,
leaving Gallent grateful for the determination and
attitude of his players.
“We
would like to take it one game at a time. I hope we
would be able to sustain this momentum,” he said.
Gallent
also praised Araña for limiting the Teethmasters main
man, Jason Castro, to just eight points in 17 minutes of
play.
Chico
Lanete contributed 14 points for the Port Masters while
Jerwin Gaco added 12.
Larry
Rodriguez paced Hapee-PCU with 20 points.
Earlier,
Mail & More leaned on the steady hands of JR Quiñahan to
beat Toyota Otis, 77-72, and clinch third place.
Quiñahan
made up for his cold performances in the semifinals by
drilling in 22 points, 12 in the first period, to help
the Comets respectably. He also had eight rebounds and
five assists.
Taking a
cue from Quiñahan’s improved performance, three other
Mail & More players scored in double figures as they
repeatedly punctured Toyota Otis’s defense with their
courageous plays.
The
Comets, who lost the first finals berth to the Hapee
Teethmasters, dictated the tempo behind Ronjay Buenafe,
who delivered 11 of his 13 points in the first half to
give the team a 41-39 lead going into the locker room.
It was
Mail & More’s best finish under coach Lawrence Chongson.
“We
worked hard in the classification round and it would
have been a waste if we can’t get the third place. Good
thing, the boys responded to our challenge,” said
assistant coach Allan Gregorio, who called the shots
this time in the absence of Chongson.
“We were
quite passive in the semis series, maybe because we
peaked too early in the tournament. But we’re proud of
our third place finish,” Gregorio added.
Mike
Bravo contributed 13 points for the Comets while Nestor
David added 11.
Toyota
Otis continued its slide after a heartbreaking 81-92
defeat to Harbour Centre in their do-or-die game for the
other finals berth last Saturday.
Marvin
Cruz posted 12 points while Abby Santos and Patrick
Cabahug chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
It was
the best finish by a newcomer since Magnolia Ice Cream
(formerly Viva Water Mineral) made it straight to the
finals after rejoining the league in 2003.
The
Comets finished in a four-way tie for the lead at the
end of the classification round with a 7-3 win-loss
record, but lost to Hapee in their playoff for one of
the outright semis berths.
They
beat Henkel Sista in the quarterfinals to advance to the
Final Four but they were beaten again by the
Teethmasters in the semis series, 3-1.
The
Sparks briefly took the late in the first quarter and
early in the second stanza. But the Comets worked their
way up behind the guns of Buenafe.
Mail and
More even took a 48-39 lead as Bravo conspired with
Quinahan in a telling 7-0 run to control the tempo of
the game.
The
Sparks tried several times to turn the game around but
they failed—thanks to David’s eight-point explosion in
the fourth.
Besides
dominating the boards, 47-41, the Comets also shot
better from the field, making 28 of 62 tries for 45
percent against only 34 percent for the Sparks
(23-of-68). |
