Harbour Centre struggled in the first half but went on a rampage in the last two quarters to crush Noosa Shoes, 79-48, and grab the early lead in the PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup yesterday at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gym in Manila.
The Batang Pier got into the groove in the final half and surged past the Shoe Stars for their second straight win following an 85-77 whipping of San Mig Coffee Saturday.
Frontliners Jerwin Gaco and Beau Belga topscored for Harbour Centre with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
“The boys raised their game a notch higher from our game against San Mig Coffee. I think we’re now 80 to 85 percent of our full potential,” said Harbour Centre coach Jorge Gallent.
In the second game, Khiel Misa scored seven of his 15 points in overtime to lift Burger King to a pulsating 73-67 win over San Mig Coffee.
A bristling 7-0 run highlighted by Misa’s back-to-back baskets at the start of overtime was all the Whoppers needed to turn the game around after trailing most of the game in regulation.
“We showed that we had the character to bounce back,” said coach Allan Gregorio who drew 20 points from Abby Santos.
Also rising to the occasion was Marcy Arellano who finished with 16 points on top of nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Misa also had nine rebounds and six assists to help the Whoppers redeem themselves after a stinging defeat to Noosa Shoes last Saturday.
The Shoe Stars were still very much in the game until the Batang Pier closed out the third quarter with a 12-0 assault for a 52-36 lead.
The 6-foot-4 Gaco stood out in that run as he scattered five points, including three charities. He finished in double-double with 13 points and the same number of rebounds, six from the offensive board.