Harbour Centre dominates Game 1

Harbour Centre rode on a torrid fourth quarter run to overwhelm Magnolia, 84-71, yesterday in a rousing win that could set the tone for its record sixth straight title bid in the Philippine Basketball League.

Reed Juntilla and Rico Maeirhofer fired 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Mark Barroca and Edwin Asoro chipped in 14 apiece as the Batang Pier seized a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five title showdown at The Arena in San Juan City.

“This is an important win for us because it sets the tone for us in this series,” said Harbour Centre coach Jorge Gallent.

The Batang Pier go for a 2-0 lead as action shifts to the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City tomorrow.

Game Three is on Saturday, also at Ynares while Game Four or Game Five, if necessary, is set on Tuesday and next week in San Juan and Pasig, respectively.

Asoro, who with Jerwin Gaco are members of all five champion teams of Harbour, scattered 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Batang Pier broke out of a tight 59-53 game to win pulling away.

The Batang Pier also put up a tough defensive job on Magnolia’s top player Neil Raneses, who was held to just four shots and two points.

The 6-4 Raneses, a former University of Visayas standout, erupted for 24 and 23 points in the Wizards’ semifinal series against the Bacchus Energy Kings.

“Our scouting report tells us to stop them in the post because 75-percent of their production were inside points,” said Gallent.

The Batang Pier battled the Wizards to five deadlocks and three lead changes in the first half and barely took a 39-36 lead.

Juntilla fired the bulk of his 16 points in the opening quarter while Maeirhofer scored eight points in the second period as they kept Harbour Centre in the lead heading to the break.

The fancied Batang Pier still failed to shrug off the Wizards in the third but succeeded to pull away in the fourth as Asoro took over.