Harbour favored to notch 9th win

HARBOUR Centre resumes its bid for a sweep of the double-round eliminations when it battles the winless Nokia-Philippine Youth team today in the 2008 PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup at The Arena in San Juan City.

Now fully recovered from their bitter experience in the SEABA Champions Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia, last week, the Batang Pier, according to coach Jorge Gallent, are ready to display anew the razzle-dazzle kind of game that has powered them to victory in their first eight games in the season-ending tournament.

"Our setback in the SEABA tournament was a temporary one. We’re really focused in this tournament. Besides everybody knows what happened to us in Jakarta," said Gallent. "Had Sam (Ekwe) been allowed to play, it could have been a different story. But that’s part of the game, so we have to move on and concentrate on our present task–which is to retain the title."

The Batang Pier, gunning for a fifth straight championship, battle the RP Youth team at 12 today heavily favored to notch their 9th straight win.

Expected to lead the Batang Pier are Jason Castro and TY Tang, who caught the fancy of the Indons with their gutsy plays and steady shooting during the SEABA tournament.

Sharing today’s limelight are Toyota Otis and Hapee Toothpaste that will clash at 4 p.m.

Pharex hopes to get back into the winning track when it collides with the Dioceldo Sy-owned Noosa Shoes at 2 o’clock.

The Medics have dropped their last three games and have slipped to third at 5-4. The Shoe Stars are tied with the Toyota Otis Sparks at 4-6.

Showing what it learned from a two-week training stint in the Unites States, the RP Youth team gamely battled Toyota Otis squad in the first quarter but the experience and might of the Sparks proved too much for the team of the future and crashed to a 63-84 defeat.

On the bright side, it was their lowest losing margin in five games, a development welcomed by the coaching staff headed by Franz Pumaren, as well as officials of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas.

The Nationals are using the tournament as part of their preparations for two major tournaments this year, including the SEABA Championship next month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Though Hapee easily beat Toyota Otis in the first round, the Sparks won’t be an easy customer this time, having won four of their last five games.

Even Hapee coach Louie Alas sees an exciting showdown with his former team, saying: "I think they (Spaks) have already settled down so I expect an exciting showdown. We have to prepare very hard for them."