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HARBOUR
CENTRE got a big scare before pulling off a hard-earned
89-83 win over stubborn Toyoto Otis to remain unscathed
in the 2008 Philippine Basketball League Lipovitan Amino
Sports Cup Thursday night at the Rizal Memorial
Coliseum.
Jason
Castro and Chad Alonzo each had seven points in the
final canto to save the Batang Pier from absorbing their
first loss. They remain on top of the standings with an
immaculate 5-0 mark.
Harbour
Centre was pushed to the limit by the pesky Sparks all
game long and only managed to secure the win after
Castro sank five straight points that gave his team a
comfortable 88-81 lead with 1:59 remaining.
“We’re
lucky that Jason played hard in the last five minutes of
the game,” said a visibly upset Batang Pier head coach
Jorge Gallent, who drew a game-high 19 points from his
two-time Most Valuable Player.
“Nandoon
pa rin ang problem ng team. We tend to relax
after having a big lead,” added Gallent, referring to
their 14-point lead late in the first half that was
quickly reduced to just four going to the break.
Alonzo
added 13 points, while Jerwin Gaco chipped in 12 in a
physical contest that ended with a minor skirmish when
Toyota’s Roel Balgos was seen flashing a dirty finger
toward the Habour Centre bench after fouling out in the
game.
His
action did not sit well to Batang Pier team manager Eric
Arejola, who intended to confront Balgos in the side
lines. Cooler heads, however, prevented the incident
from going out of hand.
Cholo
Villanueva netted 16 points for the
Sparks,
who are winless in five games.
Erwin
Sta. Maria’s back-to-back three-pointers gave Toyota a
73-69 advantage before Castro and Alonzo joined forces
for a 12-3 run to grab the lead anew, 81-76, 3:57
remaining.
The
Sparks last threatened at 81-83 on Villanueva’s short
jumper, but Castro hit a three-pointer and was fed by TY
Tang for an uncontested lay-up to seal the win for the
defending champions.
Kelvin
Gregorio drilled a crucial three-pointer that proved to
be the winner for Burger King, which snapped Bacchus
Energy’s two-game winning streak, 53-50, and improved
its record to 4-2.
Gregorio’s triple capped the Whoppers’ 7-0 run that put
them back into the game with a 52-48 lead, with less
than four minutes left. They hung on from there, with
Raiders’ hitman Christian Luanzon missing a potential
game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer.
“Our
defense worked wonders for us while our shooters hit
those crucial three-pointers down the stretch,” said
Whoppers head coach Allan Gregorio who only had Kiel
Misa scoring in double figures with 12.
“Bacchus
played zone throughout the game that’s why we had to
work harder with our perimeter game especially in the
three-point area,” Gregorio added.
Bacchus,
which won its previous two matches, actually was in
control of with a 48-45 lead when Luanzon hit a triple,
5:49 left.
But Misa
and Gregorio countered with their own three-point
baskets that sandwiched Abby Santos’s split free throw
that shoved Burger King to a 52-48 edge. Mark Yee hit
two free throws for the Raiders for 50-52, 5.7 seconds
to.
Bacchus
had another chance to send the game into overtime when
Marcy Arellano halved his free throws for, 53-50, 4.1
ticks left, but Luanzon muffed his three-point attempt
as time expired. |
