Streaking Bacolod and San Juan trounced separate opponents, while Bataan struggled past Rizal on Saturday in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme at the Strike Gym in Bacoor, Cavite.
Bacolod Bingo Plus handed host Bacoor a third straight defeat, 69-58, while San Juan Go for Gold clobbered Manila, 94-73, to show their readiness for the quarterfinal playoffs next month.
Thriving under new mentor Ricky Dandan, Bataan Camaya Coast tamed Rizal Xentromall, 69-65, to likewise bolster its drive in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 22-team tournament.
Their second straight win under Dandan, gave the Bataan Risers a 10-7 record, overtaking their victims, who tumbled to 10-8 following a third successive narrow loss.
James Darwin Castro and Arvie Bringas again led Bataan with 16 and 15 points, respectively, followed by Jamil Gabawan with 11.
Rizal got 14 points from Troy Mallillin, 12 from Laurenz Victoria and 10 from Arvin John Capobres.
A 10-point run pushed Bacolod ahead, 61-47, and it never wavered for a fifth straight win and a 13-7 record, just a game away from completing its elimination round schedule.
Alwyn Alday led Bacolod’s offense with 17 points, while Mark Yee contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds and Jhan McHale Nermal chipped in 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Bacoor, which skidded to 6-11, got 14 points from RJ Ramirez, 12 from Mark Pangilinan and 11 from Mark Montuano.
The San Juan Knights, still carrying the momentum of their records-setting 146-64 dumping of the Mindoro Tams on Sept. 13, were again powered by Orlan Wamar and Judel Fuertes with 22 and 18 points, respectively. Joseph Marquez added 14 points while Marvin Taywan and Ron Dennison accounted for 11 points each.
Manila, now on a 6-game slide, dropped to 6-12 despite the 20-point effort of Marvin Lee and the 17-point, 8-rebound output of Ronnie Matias.
The MPBL heads to the Caloocan Sports Complex on Monday with Pampanga opening hostilities against Marikina at 5 p.m. Other matches pit Valenzuela against Imus at 7 p.m. and Nueva Ecija against Caloocan at 9 p.m.