MANILA, Philippines – The Makati Super Crunch extended their winning run Wednesday night.
Banking on John Rey Villanueva and Jeckster Apinan, the Super Crunch trounced the Laguna Heroes, 76-65, to post their 14thstraight victory and tighten their hold of second spot in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Datu Cup at Blue Eagle Gym in Katipunan, Quezon City.
Villanueva scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Apinan tallied 15 and 10 to counter the double-double efforts of Michael Mabulac (20 points, 15 rebounds) and Raymond Ilagan (14-15) for the Heroes.
The Super Crunch, who got 10 points each from Joseph Sedurifa and Cedric Ablaza, matched the 14-win streak of the pacesetting Bataan Risers (21-2) and climbed to 20-4, moving ahead of the San Juan Knights (19-5) and the Manila Stars (19-5).
Flaunting their deep bench, the Super Crunch surged ahead, 35-14, before letting the Heroes, out of playoffs contention at 10-15, come closer in the fourth quarter.
The Super Crunch will gun for a league record 15 wins in a row when they tangle with the Quezon City Capitals on February 25 at Valenzuela Astrodome.
The Capitals showed up in full force and subdued Imus Bandera, 80-71 , in the nightcap to level their slate at 11-11.
Jay Collado tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds while Hessed Gabo posted 14 points and 11 assists for the Capitals, who also drew 13 points from Ramon Mabayo, named the game’s best player, and 10 points from Joco Tayongtong.
Imus suffered its fifth straight loss and fell to 9-13, though the Bandera are still in contention for a playoffs berth in the South division.
Jonathan Rivera and James Castro scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, for Imus, which needs to win two of its last three games to advance.
The MPBL visits the Muntinlupa Sports Complex on Thursday with Rizal Province battling Davao Occidental at 7 p.m. and Muntinlupa tackling Bulacan at 9 p.m.