BATANGAS City – Alfie Grijaldo blocked Jason Castro’s go-ahead drive in the final six seconds as Hapee Toothpaste stole a pulsating 74-73 win over fancied Harbour Centre yesterday to gain the headstart in their best-of-five showdown for the PBL Amino Sports Cup crown at the Batangas City Sports Complex here yesterday.
Larry Rodriguez fired a game-high 18 points and plucked 10 rebounds for a double-double performance for Hapee although he wavered down the stretch and the Complete Protectors needed the endgame heroics of Grijaldo to pound out the victory before a roaring fans of over 6,000.
“The series is far from over, but it’s a nice feeling winning Game 1,” said Hapee coach Louie Alas, who also drew solid performances from Mark Borboran and Francis Mercado, who combined for 13 points in the final quarter to help keep the Batang Pier at bay.
Borboran’s twinner off an assist by Fil-Am Gabe Norwood made it 74-73 which turned out to be the marginal basket as the Batang Pier failed to score from there.
“One of the biggest keys in our victory was our defense. We really made big stops in the fourth quarter,” said Alas.
Harbour, seeking an unprecedented fifth straight crown, appeared on its way to victory as it raced to a 63-45 late in the third. But the Batang Pier wavered in the face of the Complete Protectors’ fightback early in the fourth.
The two teams fought to seven lead changes and five deadlocks in the first half before the Batang Pier came through with a strong finishing kick to end the first half at 43-37.
Chad Alonzo and Jeff Chan scored seven points apiece to lead the way for Harbour in the opening half while Rodriguez paced Hapee with eight points.
Earlier, commissioner Chino Trinidad handed out some of the awards, including Fan Favorite and Fantastic Freshman, both won by Norwood.
Other awardees were Hapee’s Reed Juntilla (Instant Impact) and Harbour’s Dylan Ababou (True Gentleman).
The First Mythical Team will be announced in Saturday’s Game 2 in Trece Martires, Cavite while the MVP winner will be announced in Game 3 on Monday in Tanauan City, Batangas.