INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—Hard work continues for Harbour Centre despite clinching the first PBL semifinal berth before the two-week holiday break.

Beefed up by Nigerian Sam Ekwe, the Batang Pier played an exhibition match against the Singapore Slingers Sunday night in the island city state’s Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The match, part of the 2008-09 Singapore Challenge Series featuring several Asian commercial squads, also served as tune-up for the five-time champions before they return to action against Burger King in the PG Flex Linoleum Cup on Tuesday.

“I always tell the boys that we have to stay on top so that the other teams can’t catch up with us,” said coach Jorge Gallent, after the Batang Pier secured an outright Final Four slot with an 8-1 record.

Batang Pier veterans Jerwin Gaco and Rico Maierhofer bannered the frontline along with Ekwe, the two-time NCAA Most Valuable Player from San Beda College. Far Eastern University standouts Benedict Fernandez, Mark Barroca and JR Cawaling also played in the Singapore match.

Former Harbour Centre ace Al Vergara went up against his old squad for the first time since signing up with the Slingers last September.

Vergara won three crowns with the Batang Pier before the Slingers tapped the 5-foot-8 guard as a replacement for Jason Castro.

It was the Slingers’ second match in two months against a Philippine commercial squad. They crushed the Smart-Pampanga Buddies of Liga Pilipinas, 100-72, in the goodwill series.

The Batang Pier, who are seeking an unprecedented sixth straight title, remain ahead in the PBL race even if none of their players topped the individual statistics.

Bacchus guard Paul Lee emerged as the scoring leader with an average of 16.9 points in 10 games.

Hapee star Jervy Cruz had the most rebounds with a 10.2 rpg, while Burger King slotman Jayson Ballesteros was tops in blocks with a 2.1 average.

Pharex’s Fil-Am rookie guard led both in assists (5.8) and steals (3.1).