HAPEE Toothpaste wants to solidify its hold of the second spot as it collides with the reeling Burger King in the main game of the 2008 Philippine Basketball League Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The Complete Protectors and the Whoppers square off at 4 p.m. with the former eyeing their third-straight win while the latter hoping to end a three-game skid.

In the first game, San Mig Coffee shoots for its first winning streak in the tournament as it faces Bacchus Energy Drink at 2 p.m.

After a relatively quiet first round, Hapee started the second phase of the eliminations with back-to-back wins, the last an impressive 96-80 shellacking of Noosa Shoes on Saturday at The Arena in San Juan.

Complete Protectors head coach Louie Alas attributes the team’s current strong plays on their commitment to play defense.

“I like what I’m seeing, especially with the way we are playing defense as of late,” said Alas, whose wards are holding a 6-3 win-loss slate, two games behind the league-leading Harbour Centre (8-0).

And Alas knows that the remaining games, especially against teams which have losing records, are crucial in their quest to get into the semifinals.

“We can’t afford to lose games against teams which we are not supposed to lose. We have to keep our focus because if not, we can be beaten anytime by these teams,” Alas added.

Burger King pushed Hapee to the limit in their first meeting before yielding an 85-83 double-overtime loss, which incidentally started the team’s losing woes in the tournament.

“We need to get back on track and we have to play our best game because Hapee is on a roll,” said Whopper head coach Allan Gregorio. “If we can stay close, I think we’ll have a shot.”

Filipino-American Gabe Norwood, Mark Borboran, Jervy Cruz and Larry Rodriguez will lead the attack of the Lamoiyan franchise while Marcy Arellano, Khiel Misa and Abby Santos will spearhead the Whoppers.

Burger King is currently in the middle of the pact with 5-5 mark.

In the opener, the Coffee Kings seek their first back-to-back wins against the Raiders. San Mig Coffee is holding a 3-5 slate and is coming off a 78-77 squeaker over Noosa Shoes.

The Raiders also dropped their last assignment, 72-85, against the Shoe Stars to go down in the team standings with 4-6 mark.

Coffee Kings head coach Koy Banal said that all is not lost for them as they just need to pile up more wins to get back on track.

“The players are beginning to enjoy the game, which is one aspect that’s lacking in them. I put so much pressure on them. But now, we’re enjoying the game,” said Banal.

Harbour-RP settles for No. 2

JAKARTA—At one point, the Harbour Centre-Philippine team faced the specter of finishing the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Champions Cup below its expectations.

Complete Protectors of Hapee mix it up with skidding Whoppers

HAPEE Toothpaste wants to solidify its hold of the second spot as it collides with the reeling Burger King in the main game of the 2008 Philippine Basketball League Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) turns a new leaf Wednesday, and in celebration of its 33rd anniversary, the league is raffling off 33 special prizes during Wednesday’s scheduled double-header at the Araneta Coliseum.

JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ may have finally induced Manny Pacquiao into considering a rematch.

Bacolod City—Twelve schools, led by defending women’s champion University of the Visayas (UV), will slug it out for the remaining slots to the 2008 Nestea Beach Volley National Finals as the third and final leg of the nationwide qualifying tournaments unfurls Tuesday at the University of St. La Salle.

THERE’S no “I” on the team and sure enough, newly installed Philippine nonplaying team captain Manny Tecson is instilling that concept further in the Philippines’ Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I relegation tie against Uzbekistan.

LINGAYEN—Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Avelino Razon Jr. will make the ceremonial shots to open the Philippine Military Academy Masigasig Class ’72 Governor’s Cup Shootfest from May 2 to 4 at the PNP Firing Range here.

DON ENRICO, touted as one of the heavy favorites in the coming Triple Crown Championship Series, added another major victory in his career when he topped the Diamond Stakes I on Sunday at the San Lazaro Leisure Park.