MANILA, Philippines—Harbour Centre’s unbeaten run will be put to a test when the Batang Pier shoot for the first semifinal berth against the charging Toyota Otis Sparks in the PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup Tuesday at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gym in Manila.

And the Sparks, who have won five of their last six games, feel confident of spoiling Batang Pier’s bid for a 10th straight victory in the 4 p.m. game.

“I think we match up well against Harbour,” said Sparks coach Ariel Vanguardia.

The Sparks’ resurgence lifted them to a 5-6 record, in a tie with three other teams, including Burger King, which will try to halt a four-game skid versus Bacchus at 2 p.m.

“We still have a chance to make it to the top four,” said Vanguardia. “The last time we played Harbour, it was a close game.”

The top two teams at the end of the elimination round secure outright semifinal berths, while the third- and fourth-ranked squads earn twice-to-beat incentives in the quarterfinals.

The two teams with the lowest records, excluding guest squad Nokia Philippine Youth Team, will no longer advance to the next round.

While Batang Pier had been relying heavily on Jason Castro to bail them out, the Sparks had found a reliable set of clutch performers in Patrick Cabahug, RJ Jazul and Chito Jaime.

Jazul, the 5-foot-10 ace guard from Letran College`, did not suit up for the Sparks when Batang Pier scraped out an 89-83 victory in their first-round encounter.

Castro starred in Batang Pier’s closest winning margin by nailing a crucial triple in the final stretch for a team-high 19 points.

“All we have to do is to play tough defense against them,” said Vanguardia after the Sparks pulled off a 76-73 upset win over the second-running Hapee last Saturday.

“The boys are in high spirits, so I think we have a better chance this time.”

Unlike the Sparks, the Whoppers’ fate turned for worse after an impressive 5-2 start. Jasmine W. Payo