BAGUIO CITY—Even in high altitude, Harbour Centre managed to hold fort to move to a win away of returning to the finals for the fifth-straight time.

The Batang Pier shrugged off a lackluster performance in the first three quarters to score another 69-55 come-from-behind win over San Mig Coffee in Game Two of their semifinal series of the 2008 Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup Monday at the University of the Cordilleras Gym.

The win gave Harbour a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series.

Two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jayson Castro and TY Tang wrecked havoc in the final quarter where Batang Pier outscored the Coffee Kings, 26-10, to pull away in a tight and rugged contest.

“Our aggressive defense in the fourth quarter became our offense in the game,” said Batang Pier head coach Jorge Gallent, who was irked with his wards’ performance in the first three periods.

“I’m happy we were able to execute well in the last 10 minutes. That has been our problem, we tend to relax early,” he added.

Castro, Tang and Chad Alonzo each had 12 points for the Harbour Centre squad, which trailed 43-47 at the start of the final canto.

San Mig Coffee, which dropped a close 76-74 loss in the opener, was erratic in the last 12 minutes and managed only two field goals in that stretch.

The Coffee Kings shot two-of-17 in the final canto while Harbour Centre, seeking its fifth title, sank almost every shot it made—led by Tang who had back-to-back magical layups in the Batang Pier’s 10-2 salvo to claim the lead, 53-47, 4:56 remaining.

Tang unloaded a three-pointer that sparked another 9-3 exchange for a commanding 62-50 advantage with 2:45 left.

Neil Raneses ended the Coffee Kings’ scoring drought on a layup with 2:21 to go, but that did not matter anymore as Beau Belga and Jonathan Fernandez closed the door on San Mig with a jumper and a three-pointer, respectively.

Harbour Centre has won four straight over San Mig this season. Their match Monday, and that of the Hapee-Burger King, would be aired on BTV from 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Jaypee Alcaraz paced all scorers with 18 points for San Mig Coffee, while Raneses chipped in 12. Bonbon Custodio had 11 markers but was held to just a free throw in the fourth period.

And to compound San Mig Coffee’s woes, center Ford Arao hurt his right knee after colliding with Belga in the 2:50 mark of the third period.

Arao did not return and is a doubtful starter in Game Three on Thursday at Muntinlupa Sports Complex.

Back to square one

SALT LAKE CITY—Kobe Bryant frowned and pulled out his newest acquisition, an electro-stimulation device that traveled along his aching back.

Lion King

Alex “The lion”  Pagulayan disposed of compatriot Francisco “Django” Bustamante, 8-4, in the semifinals, and then came from behind to turn back fellow former world champion Mika Immonen, 8-6, to crown himself champion of the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters Monday at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

TWO Filipinos are now in the Czech Republic strutting their stuff in baseball.

Pitcher Jon Jon Robles of the University of Santo Tomas and the Makati Mariners, and Edgar de los Reyes, the national team manager, have been recruited to play for the Arrows Ostrava in the Extraliga, a Czech commercial league which is one of the more popular leagues in Europe.

BAGUIO CITY—Even in high altitude, Harbour Centre managed to hold fort to move to a win away of returning to the finals for the fifth-straight time.

Filipino Marcel Puyat produced a final-round one-under-par 71 to claim his third title in the sixth leg of the International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT).

HORSE owner Nery Sunga, of 2008 Horse of the Year Es Twenty Six fame, is such a very busy man ever since.

While attending to his main business managing the Sanry Foreign Exchange, he still has time to look into the needs of his constituents in barangay Guadalupe in Makati. Besides, he also has time managing his several minihotels and resorts all at the same time.