Juntilla lifts Harbour Centre vs Cebuana

Harbour Centre banked on Reed Juntilla’s game-winning basket in the stretch as it edged Cebuana Lhuillier-Pera Padala, 75-73, yesterday to barge into the magic four in the PBL Silver Cup at the Parañaque Sports Center.

Juntilla, a 22-year-old former University of Visayas standout, fired a game-high 24 points including that game-winner that sent the Port Masters into a three-way tie for fourth place with the TeleTech Titans and the Toyota Otis Sparks on 4-3 (win-loss) slates.

It was the fifth loss against three wins for the Moneymen.

"He was asking he’ll take the last shot and I let him take it, I’m glad he made that shot," said Harbour Centre coach Jorge Gallent referring to the flashy 6-foot-1 guard from Carmen, Cebu.

Juntilla, who was part of the team that won the championships with Hapee Toothpaste in 2003 and Montaña Pawnshop a year later before he was picked by the Mikee Romero-owned franchise in the dispersal draft, waxed hot early, erupting for 22 points in the first three quarters when they built leads of as many as 10 points.

Bothered by Cebuana Lhuillier’s swarming defense, Juntilla lost his touch in the fourth quarter as he muffed shots one after another, including three in a five-minute stretch that saw the Port Masters blow a 72-65 lead.

Ken Bono, this year’s UAAP MVP, capped an 8-1 exchange with six straight points including a driving basket from the baseline that knotted the count at 73 with 12.3 seconds to go.

Then Juntilla stepped up to fire that gem of a shot.

Isolated by the Port Masters, Juntilla, who had a penchant of making the big shots in his high school and college days in Cebu, had a crossover dribble before taking off for a fall-away shot over an outstretched arm of the 6-foot-2 Emer Oreta that swished the net.