INQUIRER Sports

TANAUAN CITY?His best game in the series fittingly came on his big day.

Moments after capturing his third Most Valuable Player plum, Jason Castro unloaded a game-high 28 points as Harbour Centre hammered out a 90-78 triumph over Hapee Toothpaste Monday to move within a win of the Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup title at the packed President Jose P. Laurel gym in Batangas.

?He?s deserving of the MVP (award), he showed that his win is not a fluke,? said Batang Pier coach Jorge Gallent.

Castro unloaded 17 points in the first half and Jonathan Fernandez and Beau Belga provided timely hits in the last quarter as Batang Pier took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

Harbour Centre will shoot for a fifth straight crown in Game 4 on Wednesday at the Batangas City Sports Complex.

?We?re playing different now, not like in our first game when we tended to relax,? said Gallent. ?Our shooters also picked up.?

The Complete Protectors claimed the opener of the best-of-five series with a 74-73 decision, but Batang Pier bounced back with a 93-81 triumph in Game 2.

Fernandez fired 13 points, including a triple in a decisive run that gave Batang Pier a 77-72 advantage with 3:43 minutes remaining.

Belga also helped preserve Batang Pier?s advantage by burying all of his eight points in the last four minutes.

Larry Rodriguez earlier fueled a 10-2 rally capped by a Mark Borboran triple to cut Harbour?s 46-36 lead down to 48-46 midway in the third period.

Reed Juntilla sustained the run as the Complete Protectors took their first lead since the first quarter at 56-52.

But Castro?who also had seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals? fought back for Batang Pier, who tied the contest at 60-all with 54 seconds left in the third canto.

The Complete Protectors forged the last deadlock at 72, heading into the last five minutes, before losing momentum when Rodriguez was slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul.

With Rodriguez on the bench for the two-minute cooling-off period, Batang Pier scooted ahead for good with six unanswered points, 78-72.

Juntilla paced Hapee with 19 points, Rodriguez added 17 and Filipino-American guard Gabe Norwood, saddled with three fouls in the second quarter, contributed 14.

Castro, who shot nine points from beyond the arc in the first half, towed the Batang Pier to a 42-33 halftime advantage.

The scores:
HARBOUR CENTRE 90?Castro 28, Fernandez 13, Asoro 9, Chan 8, Belga 8, Tang
8, Alonzo 7, Mercado 6, Vergara 2, Gaco 1, Gamboa 0, Bautista 0, Taylor 0.
HAPEE 78?Juntilla 19, Rodriguez 17, Norwood 14, Borboran 7, Mercado 6,
Grijaldo 6, Tan 5, Saguindel 4, Daa 0, Quinday 0, Hugnatan 0, Espiritu 0.
Quarters: 18-12, 42-33, 62-64, 90-78