Momentum on Harbour side vs Toyota

Harbour Centre and Toyota Otis dispute the second final berth today in the PBL Silver Cup with the former hoping to sustain the momentum of their big Game Four win in their best-of-five semifinal series at the Olivarez Sports Center in Parañaque City.

The Port Masters forced a deciding game after outlasting the Sparks, 86-83, last Thursday behind the game-long heroics of JC Intal, Chico Lanete and Ron Capati.

Aside from momentum, Harbour Centre is also hoping history will repeat itself.

In their title clash in the Unity Cup last year, the Port Masters also rallied from a 1-2 deficit to snatch the crown – their first since joining the league two years ago.

That’s the reason why Harbour coach Jorge Gallent is confident of scoring another big comeback win over the Sparks.

"The pattern is almost the same as last year, so we have a good chance of completing our mission," said Gallent. "All we have to do is play smart basketball from the start to finish."

But Toyota Otis coach Louie Alas has other things in mind.

"There will be no repeat of what happened to us last year. No deja vu," he declared. "The boys are determined to win this time."

The winner in today’s knockout match will face Hapee-PCU in another best-of-five series for the crown starting Tuesday.

The Teeth Masters clinched the first finals berth after beating Mail & More in their own side of the series, 3-1. They capped their domination of the Comets with an 88-75 rout in Game 4, also Thursday.

This marks the first finals appearance of Hapee since scoring back-to-back championships in the 2003-04 seasons.

Alas blamed their Game 4 defeat to their poor start,. "Nagkanya-kanya sila sa first quarter kaya kinapos kami sa huli," he said.