H Centre dynasty continues

Harbour Centre stretched its reign as ruler of the Philippine Basketball League yesterday, conquering Hapee Toothpaste for an unprecedented fourth straight championship.

The Batang Pier fought back from the grave in regulation period and upended the Complete Protectors, 94-88, in overtime to capture the V-Go Energy Drink Cup championship before a good weekend crowd at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Fil-Am Sol Mercado and TY Tang played key roles for the Batang Pier who pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in PBL history in preserving the team’s domination of the semi-pro league.

It was a great year for the ball club most especially for team owner Mikee Romero who also savored a championship with the Harbour Centre-RP team in the recent Southeast Asian Games in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Mercado and Tang presided over the team’s gallant fightback from 19 points down in the third quarter.

“The boys just refused to give up,” said Harbour Centre coach Jorge Galent.

Mercado, outperformed by fellow Fil-Am Gabe Norwood in the series, picked up his game at the most opportune time, scoring 20 points including eight late in the fourth quarter and six in the extension play.

His exploits last night more than made up for his crucial free-throw misses in Game One which allowed Hapee Toothpaste to keep an unbeaten run and move a win shy of a perfect conference.

The happy ending for Hapee didn’t come, though.

Tang also played a vital part in frustrating Hapee’s  bid to end a three-year  title drought.

The former La Salle premier pointguard hit the free throw that forced the OT and he added two treys in the extra period.

Tang won the Finals MVP trophy while Mercado took the Pivotal Player trophy – a plum given to player who made the most crucial plays in the series.

Led by Mark Borboran, the Complete Protectors looked headed for the championship when they led by 19 points twice,  the last at 65-46 with a little over a minute to go in the third canto.

But the Batang Pier gallantly clawed their way back by uncorking a series of runs including one Mercado lit with a pair of triples that cut their deficit to a hairline, 77-78, with 8.6 seconds to go.

After Norwood missed two foul shots, Tang plucked the rebound and got a trip to the line on a foul by Francis Mercado with 4.7 ticks left.

Alas, Tang just sent the game into overtime on a split.

But Tang delivered more in the extra period, teaming up with Mercado for clutch plays after clutch plays.

Gilbert Malabanan slammed home a reverse dunk sending the Batang Pier and their fans in a joyous celebration.