MPBL: Baltazar shines as Pampanga outlasts GenSan in OT

MANILA, Philippines – Pampanga drew a monster performance from Justine Baltazar and clutch hits from Archie Concepcion and Kurt Spencer Reyson to nip General Santos, 83-81, in overtime and extend its winning run in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the Bren Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.

The 6-foot-8 Baltazar fired 25 points, grabbed 21 rebounds and issued five assists for the Giant Lanterns, who rallied from a 55-67 deficit halfway through the fourth quarter.

Concepcion and Reyson, on the other hand, buried back-to-back triples to push Pampanga ahead, 81-75, in the extension period.

Mark Cruz answered back for GenSan with a triple but Reyson drilled in a jumper to negate another triple by Kyt Jimenez.

GenSan had one last try to reverse the outcome, but John Wilson missed his triple attempt with only two seconds to go, enabling Pampanga to post its fifth straight win in the elimination round of the 29-team tournament.

Concepcion wound up with 14 points, Reyson 12 and Raymund Binuya 10. Mat De Leon only made 8 points but snagged 12 rebounds for the Giant Lanterns.

The Warriors, who absorbed their first loss after winning six straight, got 18 points and eight rebounds from Christian Fajarito, and 13 points each from Cruz and Lorenzo Joson.

With the Warriors ahead, 69-63, Baltazar unloaded four points and Concepion and Reyson two each against a lone basket by Jimenez to force overtime, 71-71.

Other games saw the San Juan Knights clobber Quezon City Gaz N Go, 113-77, and the Negros Muscovados stun the Makati OKBet Kings, 86-75.

Powered by Michael Calisaan, Ren Dennison and Oman Wamar, the Knights led by as far as 101-63 to snap a two-game slide and climb to 4-2.

Calisaan tallied 21 points, 17 rebounds and two assists, Dennison contributed 16 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Wamar posted 15 points, 15 assists, four rebounds and two steals to earn best player honors.

Adrian Nocom also delivered for San Juan with 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals, and so did Paolo Javillonar with 11 points and four rebounds.

Quezon City slid to 2-7 as only Joseph Brutas and Kenji Roman got in the groove with 17 and 12 points, respectively.

Negros leaned on the 11-point explosion of Robin Rono in the third quarter to pull ahead, 68-59, then quelled Makati's final rally to rise to 3-5.

Rono finished with 19 points, including four triples, and five rebounds and was chosen the game's best player. He was supported by Bernie Bregondo and Paolo Javelona with 10 points each.

Makati skidded to 4-3 despite the 14-point, 11-rebound effort of Billy Robles and the 10-point output of Joseph Terso.

The MPBL returns to the Batangas City Coliseum on Tuesday with a triple bill pitting Valenzuela against Rizal at 4 p.m., Bacoor against Laguna at 6 p.m., and Imus against Batangas at 8 p.m.