A few days after burying a game-winning triple, Cardona came through with another clutch effort as Harbour Center trounced Negros Navigation-San Beda, 79-63, yesterday to boost its stock in the 2005 PBL Unity Cup at the Far Eastern U Gym.
Cardona, chosen by the scribes as this year’s first Player of the Week, sizzled with 28 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists as the Port Masters notched a third win in four outings.
The last time out, Cardona nailed a cold-blooded triple with a tenth of a second remaining to lift Harbour Center to a 75-73 triumph over Toyota Otis-Letran.
The former La Salle standout did most of the job, but the Ateneo duo of Magnum Membrere and LA Tenorio had their contributions at endgame.
Membrere and Tenorio, who both played high school basketball for the San Beda Red Cubs, combined for 23 points including 15 in a pivotal fourth-quarter run.
"Magnum and LA stepped up big for us in the stretch, and so was Paolo (Bugia). It goes to show that this isn’t just a Mark Cardona team," said Harbour Center coach Tonichi Yturri.
Dropping their first three games with an average losing margin of 22 points, the Navigators decided to acquire Dom Javier and James Razon to reinforce an all-San Beda squad.
It turned out well as Javier and Razon helped Nenaco put up a good fight against Harbour Center, which missed the services of Jerwin Gaco, who served a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul against Toyota Otis’ Ardy Laron.
"It’s evident in this game that we missed him (Gaco). We couldn’t rebound well without him," said Yturri, whose charges were out-rebounded, 39-57, by a Nenaco team norming just 31 boards before this game.
In the other game, defending champion Magnolia Ice Cream-FEU outlasted Granny Goose Kornets, 62-54, for its second win against the same number of losses.
It was the Snack Masters’ third setback in four outings.