Bataan blitzed Manila in overtime, 109-102, while General Santos City subdued San Juan, 79-69, to join Pampanga in the winner’s circle on Tuesday in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season presented by Xtreme at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The Bataan Camaya Coast Risers rattled off 13 straight points to zoom ahead of the Manila Stars, 105-92, in the extension period and raise their record to 11-8 in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 22-team tournament.
James Darwin Castro again shone for Bataan with 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists, followed by Kristoffer Torrado with 22 points, Jamil Gabawan with 16 points and 8 rebounds, and Arvie Bringas with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Manila, which tumbled to 6-14, got 23 points and 8 assists from Dan Sara, 23 points from homegrown Francis Camacho, and 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists from Ronnie Matias.
The GenSan Warriors pulled away at 75-63 and prevented the Knights from mounting a rally to tally their 13th victory against 6 losses.
Christian Fajarito presided over GenSan’s offense with 20 points plus 6 rebounds against his former team San Juan, which skidded to 12-7 despite the 18-point, 12-rebound effort of Dexter Maiquez and the 15-point, 10-rebound output of Michael Calisaan.
As expected, Pampanga pounded Makati without letup and handily prevailed, 91-54, in the opener to climb to 13-5.
Hurting from a 74-80 defeat it suffered against Nueva Ecija on Friday, Pampanga led by as many as 40 points, 91-51, in pulling down Makati to the cellar at 1-17.
With the Giant Lanterns in full control, Pampanga coach Gov. Dennis Pineda had the luxury of shuffling his 15 players, all of whom scored.
Archie Concepcion led Pampanga with 16 points and 3 assists, followed by Alex Ramos with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Michael Garcia with 10 points.
The MPBL visits the Laguna Sports Complex in Santa Cruz on Wednesday with another triple-bill featuring the Nueva Ecija-Pasig encounter at 7 p.m. Other games pit Zamboanga against Quezon City at 5 p.m. and Muntinlupa against Laguna at 9 p.m.