Batang Pier eye 2-0 lead

Harbour Centre tries to make it two-in-row over Magnolia today and inch closer to a record sixth straight championship in Game Two of the 2009 PBL PG Flex Linoleum Cup finals at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

The Batang Pier used one big run in the fourth quarter to turn what had been a close contest into a runaway win, 84-71, in the opener of their best-of-five series at The Arena in San Juan last Tuesday.

Unless the Wizards come up with key adjustments on both ends, the Batang Pier could well be on their way to another title romp in their final stint in the league.

Gametime is at 2:30 p.m.

“Despite our struggle in the first half, it was a good win. And I hope it will set the tone of the series,” said Harbour coach Jorge Gallent.

He said the Batang Pier were a bit sluggish in the early going of Game One after taking a week-long rest following their sweep of the Hapee side in the semis.

The Wizards, on the other hand, needed five games to turn back a tough Bacchus Energy Drink squad.

Gallent, however, downplayed their chances of pulling off another sweep.

“From the start, I’m confident of our chances but I can’t say if we can sweep Magnolia,” Gallent said. “There are many talented players in the team so you can’t put them down easily.”

Going down again is far from the Wizards’ minds.

“I drew strength from my players who kept telling me that we can still make it,” said Magnolia coach Koy Banal.

To even things up, the Wizards must draw solid games from Neil Raneses, Al Magpayo and JP Alcaraz, the team’s top guns, who struggled on a combined 6-of-31 shooting from the field in Game One.

Raneses, who normed 18.4 points in the semis, was shackled by Edwin Asoro and Jerwin Gaco to just two points on a horrendous 1-of-8 shooting from the floor.

“But everybody must step up, we should not rely much on Raneses,” said Banal.

The Wizards also need to toughen up on defense after four Harbour players scored 14 points or more with Reed Juntilla leading the way with 16.

“Everybody from Harbour can score, so we have to do something about it,” said Banal.

Aside from Juntilla, other Harbour players to watch out for are Rico Maierhofer, Asoro, JR Cawaling and rookie Mark Barroca.