Hapee sparkles without coach

Hapee Toothpaste-PCU gave Heroes Cup champion Magnolia Ice Cream little room to operate as it came away with a 77-60 victory yesterday to keep its flickering hopes alive in the PBL Unity Cup at the Olivarez Gym.

Jason Castro, runner-up to Rain or Shine’s Jojo Tangkay in the MVP race last conference, waxed hot in the first half as the Teeth Sparklers dominated the Wizards to set the tone for the rout. He finished with 13 points.

What made it a happy win for Hapee was that the Teeth Sparklers did the feat sans coach coach Junel Baculi and Rob Sanz, out with gout problems and an injured jaw, respectively.

But team consultant Jun Noel proved up to task, shuffling his men with the touch of a magician as the Teeth Sparklers jumped the gun on the Wizards early and never looked back.

Ronnie Bucao, a rookie out of University of Visayas, played like a veteran as he scored 11 points, made four assists and snared two rebounds to help power the Lamoiyan-owned franchise to the victory.

The Wizards fell to 2-4 (win-loss).

Earlier, Harbour Centre leaned on Joseph Yeo’s game-long heroics, including a crucial triple in overtime play as it pulled the rug from under Granny Goose, 84-81, to notch its first victory after four setbacks.

Yeo sizzled with 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Port Masters.

Yeo’s biggest moment came in the extra period when he drained in a triple with 22.7 seconds to shove Harbour Centre to an 82-81 lead.

Granny Goose failed to score the rest of the way as it bungled its final two possessions to likewise drop to 2-3.

"We won finally," said Harbour Centre coach Jorge Gallent. "I have to give it to Joseph (Yeo) for comingthrough with the huge basket in overtime."

Up 73-72 in regulation, Granny Goose’s Mike Bravo missed giving the team the needed cushion as he muffed two foul shots, enabling Harbour to send the game into overtime.