5TH STRAIGHT PBL CROWN
Harbour Centre champs again
Batang Pier close out Hapee, 3-1
By Jasmine W. Payo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:36:00 05/29/2008
BATANGAS CITY -- There's no ending this team's dynastic dominance.
Living up to its billing, Harbour Centre captured an unprecedented fifth straight PBL championship by crushing Hapee Toothpaste, 86-73, in Game 4 of the Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup Finals Wednesday in front of a capacity crowd at the Batangas City Sports Center.
Jason Castro, who averaged 17.5 points in the series and captured his third straight Most Valuable Player award two days ago, presided over a determined attack that allowed Harbour to end the best-of-five series at 3-1.
"We were aggressive from start to finish," noted Batang Pier coach Jorge Gallent after Harbour clinched its third straight win after dropping the opener.
Boyet Bautista knocked down a team-high 16 markers while Castro capped his amateur stint just an assist-shy of a double-double after racking up 13 points, nine assists, three rebounds and three steals.
The Batang Pier also rode the consistent performance of forward Jeff Chan, who normed 10.8 points to win the Finals Pivotal Player plum.
"It was our never-say-die attitude that pulled us through," said Harbour team owner Mikee Romero after Batang Pier set another first by clinching five crowns in just seven conferences.
An early 19-0 scoring outburst in the second period allowed the Batang Pier to bury the Complete Protectors, who settled for a runner-up finish for the second straight conference.
Harbour took the half at 41-26 with the 5-foot-9 Castro, who will soon be playing for the Singapore Slingers in Australia's National Basketball League, already posting impressive numbers then of 11 points, six assists and two steals.
The return of Jervy Cruz made no impact for the Complete Protectors as the reigning UAAP MVP played for only a couple of minutes. Cruz missed the Complete Protectors' last six games due to a left hamstring injury sustained in the semifinal opener.
Four Complete Protectors actually scored in double figures to finish with a combined 62 points but Hapee got only a total of 11 from the rest of its bench.
Larry Rodriguez paced Hapee with 18, Fil-Am Gabe Norwood added 16, while Reed Juntilla and Earn Saguindel contributed 14 each.
Earlier, Batang Pier guard TY Tang received a Special Commissioner's Choice Award on Civic Consciousness for providing financial assistance to needy student-athletes in his alma mater De La Salle University.
After absorbing a 73-74 heartbreaker in the opener, the Batang Pier bounced back with convincing wins in Game 2 (93-81) and Game 3 (90-78).
The scores:
HARBOUR CENTRE 86—Bautista 16, Castro 13, Alonzo 11, Chan 10, Gaco 10, Vergara 9, Mercado 7, Fernandez 7, Asoro 2, Belga 1, Tang 0, Gamboa 0.
HAPEE 73—Rodriguez 18, Norwood 16, Juntilla 14, Saguindel 14, Espiritu 3, Daa 3, Borboran 3, Viray 2, Cruz 0, Quinday 0, Tan 0, Mercado 0, Grijaldo 0.
Quarters: 14-13, 41-26, 65-50, 86-73.
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