Viva seeks place in history versus Hapee

Two-to-one up and all pumped-up, Viva Mineral Water hopes to cap an incredible campaign with another victory over Hapee Toothpaste today in Game 4 of the best-of-five duel for the Sunkist PBL Unity Cup at the Pasig Sports Complex.

The Water Force, who pulled ahead in the series by scoring a thriller of a 58-56 win in Game 3 Saturday, try to wrap it all up at 3 p.m. and become the first rookie team to win a title on its first conference since Stag Pilsen achieved the feat eight years ago.

"This is an important game for us," said Viva coach Coy Banal. "We can’t afford a deciding Game 5 against a very experienced team like Hapee."

Dennis Miranda, who stepped up for Viva in Game 3, is expected to carry the cudgels anew for the Water Force although experts believe the outcome will be decided more in the shaded area.

So far, the Viva troika of Jason Misolas, Gerard Jones and Mark Isip have outmuscled and outfoxed the frontline rotation of Rich Alvarez, Francis Mercado, Alwyn Espiritu and Joel Dualan for the Teeth Sparklers.

With Misolas, Jones and Isip playing their roles to the hilt, Miranda has succeeded in making things happen for the Water Force. In fact, he came through with a couple of clutch baskets with a gem of a steal to boot in the closing minutes of Game 3.

But for Hapee mentor Junel Baculi, defense will play a key role.

"Of course, defense will be a key factor again," said Baculi, winner of six titles as a coach, including one for the Lamoiyan group seven years back. "We also need to minimize our turnovers if we want to get back in this series."

In two finals games they lost, the Teeth Sparklers turned the ball 29 times as against the Water Force’s 28. But Viva took advantage of its foes’ mistakes more with 33 turnover points against Hapee’s 23.

And Banal thinks control will spell the difference in the end. "Whoever has more control (of the game) will win this series."