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HARBOUR
CENTRE moved a step away from scoring a hat-trick in the
Philippine Basktball League (PBL), scoring a 90-75 win
in Game Two yesterday over Cebuana Lhuillier Pera Padala
in the best-of-five series for the Philippine Basketball
League (PBL) Unity Cup at the Olivarez Sports Centre in
Parañaque.
The
Batang Pier lead the series, 2-0, and could wrap it all
up in Game Three tomorrow.
Veteran
playmaker Chico Lanete played his usual game and led his
team with 22 points, six assists, two rebounds and two
steals. JC Intal also joined the fray as Harbour Centre
underscored its intention to create its own dynasty in
the league.
Intal,
who scored 11 points in Harbour Centre’s 84-78 win in
Game One last Saturday, this time drilled in 18 points,
including two triples in the fourth period that helped
the Batang Pier pull away for good.
Lanete
and Jason Castro were at their best in the first half as
they combined for 15 points for a 22-points Batang
Pier lead, 35-15 at the end of the first period.
The
Batang Pier didn’t slow down a bit and even padded their
advantage to 52-35 again behind Lanete and Ryan Araña.
“We just
pounced on their turnovers,” said Harbour Centre coach
Jorge Gallent. “By the time we got the lead, I told the
boys to sustain it to win the game.”
Cebuana
Lhuillier tried to rally with an 18-4 run highlighted by
Don Dulay’s trey and free throws that reduced the
deficit from 58-37 to 62-55 with 24 seconds left in the
third period.
But the
Moneymen could not do any better. Intal made two
consecutive triples and with three more jumpers put the
Batang Pier to 90-71with 1:43 remaining in the game.
Harbour
Centre made 33 of their 67 field-goal attempts for a 49
percent average, as compared to Cebuana Lhuillier’s
29-of-69 for 42 percent. The Batang Pier also controlled
the boards, 41-31.
Also
contributing to the Batang Pier victory were Castro and
Arana. They pitched in nine points a piece, while Beau
Belga contributed eight markers.
“All I
can say is Chico, JC and Jason stepped up today and the
boys remained patient all through out. I’m glad that we
didn’t relax despite leading by a huge margin. I am
hoping we can end the series on Thusday,” said Gallent.
But
Gallent is not resting on his laurels just yet.
“It’s
far from over. We will make minor adjustments in Game 3
and hopefully we can win again,” said Gallent, who also
credited his team’s offensive rebounding.
Ken Bono
led Cebuana Lhuillier with 21 points, seven rebounds and
three assists while Eric de la Cuesta added nine
markers. |
