H Centre sours  up top blend of San Mig Coffee

The four-peat seeking Harbour Centre squad neutralized San Mig Coffee’s main men as it pulled off an 86-63 rout yesterday to remain at second place in the 2007 PBL V-Go Extreme Energy Cup at The Arena in San Juan.

The Batang Pier put the cuffs on Bonbon Custodio and Al Magpayo as they stayed within striking distance of the unbeaten Hapee Toothpaste Complete Protectors at 5-1. The Coffee Kings slid to 2-4.

“We really prepared for this game, and our defense worked,” said Harbour Centre coach Jorge Gallent.

Custodio was held down to three on an embarrassing 1-of-11 clip while Magpayo was totally shut out, missing all his seven attempts.

Offensively, La Salle standouts Rico Maeirhofer and TY Tang paced the Harbour with 13 points apiece with Fil-Am Solomon Mercado and Santo Tomas hotshot Dylan Ababou adding 12 each.

The Batang Pier broke loose in the second quarter, unleashing a 20-5 attack to expand a slim 24-18 advantage to 44-23.

During that stretch, Maierhofer, Ababou and Edwin Asoro took charge for Harbour, combining for 18 points.

“We played 40 minutes of good basketball in this game,” said Gallent.

NCAA MVP Kelvin dela Peña led his team with 13 points but he also slowed down in the face of Harbour’s efficient defense in the second half.

Harbour forced San Mig to commit 19 errors which they translated to 17 points.

The Batang Pier also dominated the boards, 47-41, with 12 courtesy of Maeirhofer.

In the other game, Mail and More survived a late rally by Bacchus Energy Drink as it pulled off an 80-77 victory to gain a piece of third place with Toyota Balintawak on 3-3 (win-loss) slates.

It was the Energizers sixth setback.