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HARBOUR
Centre came out strong, relaxed after the break and got
its composure back in the final quarter to secure
another victory over Burger King, 77-66, and remain
unbeaten in the 2008 Philippine Basketball League (PBL)
Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup last night at the Rizal
Memorial Coliseum.
Batang
Pier almost blew a 22-point lead in the second quarter,
but recovered just in time to keep their unblemished
record at 8-0 before embarking Wednesday for an
international tournament in
Jakarta,
Indonesia.
Beau
Belga led Harbour Centre with 15 points, while Chad
Alonzo and Jason Castro added 12 and 11, respectively.
The
scores seemed to reflect of another easy win by the
defending champions, but coach Jorge Gallent was
frustrated by the way his wards played.
Behind
Alonzo, Castro and Belga, Harbour Centre quickly raced
to a 34-12 lead with 5:55 left in the second quarter,
but the Whoppers of coach Allan Gregorio staged a mighty
comeback at halftime.
With
Marcy Arellano hitting 10 points, Burger King sliced
Batang Pier’s lead to just three, 51-48, 34 seconds in
the third period, after which Jonathan Fernandez hit a
pivotal buzzer-beating three-pointer for a 54-48
advantage.
Belga,
Alonzo and Castro again joined forces in the opening
minutes of the final quarter for a 15-4 run to restore
their double-digit lead, 69-52, 4:52 left in the game.
From
there, the Whopper could not recover although Kelvin
Gregorio’s three-pointer cut the lead to 64-73. But they
simply ran out of time and absorbed their fourth loss in
nine games.
Arellano
paced Burger King with 16 points, while Gregorio and
Abby Santos churned in 12 and 11 markers, respectively.
In the
first game, Bacchus Energy Drink snapped Toyota Otis’s
two-game winning streak with a come-from-behind 75-71
victory and improved its mark to 4-5 win-loss mark.
The
Raiders banked on the clutch plays of Christian Luanzon
and Hafer Mondragon in the payoff period to repeat over
the Sparks, who took their sixth loss in eight games.
Luanzon
and Mondragon each had nine points in the final canto,
with the former hitting four crucial free throws in the
last 28 seconds to secure the win for coach Lawrence
Chongson.
“Hafer
stepped up big today and his points late in the game
spelled the big difference,” said Chongson, who drew 11
markers from the seldom-used Mondragon. “I think we just
matched their intensity down low.”
Luanzon
led all scorers with 17 points while three other Bacchus
players scored in double figures with Re Guevarra
hitting 11. Mark Yee and Angelus Raymundo each chipped
in 10 for the Raiders.
Mondragon hit timely baskets down the stretch, the first
a surprise three-pointer that knotted the score for the
last time at 64-all.
Toyota
made a run behind the efforts of Cholo Villanueva but
Mondragon countered with a pair of baskets to give the
Raiders a 71-68 cushion with less than two minutes left
in the game.
Villanueva had the opportunity to tie the game but his
three-pointer misfired and Luanzon grabbed the rebound
and was sent to the foul line for two free throws and
erected a 73-68 advantage for Bacchus.
RJ Jazul
tried to rally back the
Sparks
as he hit a triple, 73-71, but Luanzon sealed the win
with two more gift shots at the 15-foot line.
Patrick
Cabahug led
Toyota
with 14 points while Jazul, playing in his second game,
added 11. Chito Jaime, recently awarded as the PBL
Player of the Week, was held to just a single point and
was a big disappointment for coach Ariel Vanguardia.
Jaime
averaged 18 points and 10.5 rebounds in the last two
games prior the heart-breaking loss yesterday. |
