Las Piñas opens with 2 straight wins in MBT

Games tomorrow(Navotas Sports Complex)

9 a.m. – Marikina vs Caloocan

10:30 a.m. – Quezon City vs Valenzuela

12 noon – Navotas vs San Juan

1:30 p.m. – MMDA vs Mandaluyong

MANILA, Philippines — Proving to everyone it is more serious in contending for the championship this time, Las Piñas notched back-to-back wins against separate opponents this past week for a 2-0 start and the solo lead in the South Division of the Metro Basketball Tournament (MBT) seniors competition, which forms part of the Metro Manila Sports Fest under the auspices of the Metro Manila Development Authority.

The Home Defenders, who placed only 15th out of 18 teams in the 16-and-under tourney last summer, defeated Taguig 84-72 last Sunday at the Makati Coliseum then followed it up with an 87-72 rout of MMDA four days later in the same venue.

It moved half a game ahead of Mandaluyong (1-0) and Parañaque (1-0) for an auspicious start in this tourney which has “Mobile App ng Bayan” Barangay 143 as co-presentor,  Synergy 88 as main sponsor and Spalding as official ball.

Rey Anthony Peralta scored all of his game-high 14 points in the first three quarters of the game as Las Piñas outscored the Generals in each of those periods while Edgar Louie Charcos had 16 of his game-high 22 points in the win over the Black Berets, nine of them in the final period where the Home Defenders outscored MMDA 28-12 and broke the game wide open en route to the lopsided win.

The Black Berets, who were coming off a 101-91 decision over Pateros four days earlier, were led in the loss to Las Piñas by Dan Anthony Natividad’s all-around numbers of 20 points, six assists, five rebounds, five steals and two shotblocks.

Meanwhile, Mandaluyong, which routed host Makati 87-67 also last Sunday behind PBA D-League standout Joseph Gabayni, eyes a share of the lead with Las Piñas in the South Division when it takes its turn against the Black Berets this Sunday at the Navotas Sports Complex, capping a rare quadrupleheader in the classification phase of this tourney which also has San Miguel Corporation, World Balance and Higer Bus as major sponsors.