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Lipa/Barakos seek rebound in Game 3

09/06/2008

LIPA — The Lipa/Batangas Barakos vow not just to roll over and die in Game Three of their Smart-Liga Pilipinas semifinal showdown with the top seeded Cebu Ninos.

Definitely, not in front of an adoring crowd at the Lipa Cultural Center here.

“It’s a given, Cebu is a very, very strong team,” admitted Barakos coach Roger Sia. “But what we have is an abundance of heart. We’ll give them a good fight.”

Down 0-2 in the best-of-five series after losing back-to-back at the New Cebu Coliseum, Lipa/Batangas is expected to play with a lot of urgency as it tries to stave off outright elimination and prevent the Niños from clinching the first ever finals berth in the young history of the regional tournament.

Sia said the comfort of playing at home should give his team that much needed lift.

“We don’t want to dwell anymore on those two losses (on the road). Such is the advantage of playing at home,” he added. “Now that we’re about to play on our homecourt, we’ll be ready for them.”

The Barakos lost Game One Tuesday, 99-80, but had the M. Lhuillier-backed Ninos teetering on the brink of defeat in Game Two, only to go scoreless in the final four minutes of play that allowed Cebu to unleash a telling 16-0 run for a come-from-behind 83-72 victory.

Marlon Basco came up big for the Niños in the twin wins, finishing in double figures in each of the game to average 14.5 points and 15 rebounds in the series.

Bonbon Custodio (14.5) and Jeff Sanders (15.5) have been taking care of the offensive load for the Barakos, who unfortunately missed the services of starting point guard Al Vergara in Game One.

Vergara came back in the second game and finished with 11 points, his jumper with 3:55 left in the tensed ball game giving Lipa/Batangas a 67-72 lead before the Niños came through with their back-breaking scoring binge.

Meanwhile, the opener of the best-of-five semifinals series between the Taguig Batang Global and the Misamis Oriental Meteors was still being played as of presstime at the Cp. Tinga gym in Taguig.