B Pier post No. 8 over Whoppers

Harbour Centre blew hot and cold in the early going then stepped on the gas in the fourth quarter to demolish Burger King, 77-64, yesterday and notch its eighth straight win in the PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The win – and the streak – further boosted the confidence of the Batang Pier, who leave early today to defend the SEABA (Southeast Asian Basketball Association Champions Cup) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Beau Belga and Chad Alonzo fired 15 and 12 points, respectively, as the five-peat seeking Batang Pier not only kept their win run going but also extended their streak to 10, including two wins in the last conference finale where they turned back the Hapee Toothpaste side.

Earlier, Bacchus Energy Drink leaned on the endgame heroics of Christian Luanzon and Hafer Mondragon as it repulsed Toyota Otis, 75-71, to post its fourth win in nine outings.

Luanzon and former Letran standout Hafer Mondragon scored nine points apiece in the fourth quarter to cap the Raiders’ big windup.

Bacchus thus clinched their fourth loss against five wins while dealing the Sparks their sixth setback against two wins.

Belga and Alonzo took charge in the first quarter as they combined for 13 points to power Harbour Centre to a 23-8 first quarter lead before posting a 34-12 bulge in the second period.

But the Whoppers fought back to within, 44-47, behind Abe Santos and Marcy Arellano’s outside shooting and inside games.

But Burger King failed to sustain their fightback as Belga and Alonzo took over from there with former La Salle hotshot TY Tang and two-time league MVP Jayson Castro joining the fray in the final period.