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HAPEE TOOTHPASTE and San Mig Coffee try to seal a
championship showdown when they shoot for deciding wins against
their respective semis rivals Saturday in the PBL V-Go Extreme
Energy Drink Cup at The Arena in San Juan.
Buoyed by their thrilling 83-80
win in Game 1 the other day, the Hapee Complete Protectors are
determined to nail the first finals berth when they clash with the
Toyota Balintawak Roadkings at 2 p.m.
The San Mig Coffee Kings hope to
secure the other finals seat when they tangle with four-feat seeking
Harbour Centre starting at 4 p.m.
With Sam Ekwe operating inside
and Pong Escobal unleashing 3-point bombs left and right, the Coffee
Kings stunned the Batang Pier at the start of their own
best-of-three series, 80-72.
In what could be his best game so
far, Escobal tallied 23 points which he highlighted with four
triples. Ekwe finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Harbour Centre Jorge Gallent
firmly believes they still have a chance to turn the series around,
and so is Toyota Balintawak coach Ariel Vanguardia.
“My players were rusty, they
struggled defensively against Escobal and Ekwe. San Mig players also
played well, so we have to make adjustments,” said Gallent.
Fil-Am Solomon Mercado was the
only consistent among Harbour players, scoring a conference-high 33
points on a fantastic 8-of-9 shooting from the 3-point area.
Vanguardia, on the other hand,
will again rely on their never-say-die spirit to get back in the
series, saying: “It’s not yet over for us, it so happened that
we gave up so many fouls.”
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