Pampanga, South Cotabato, Manila overcome MPBL foes

MANILA, Philippines – Defending champion Pampanga trounced Negros, 104-81, on Thursday to extend its hot streak in the 6th MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Season at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.

South Cotabato shared the limelight following a come-from-behind 82-81 victory over Binan Tatak Gel Beast Motorcycle Game X in the nightcap of another elimination round triple bill of the 29-team tournament.

Exploiting their height and firepower advantage, the Giant Lanterns sped beyond reach, 92-63, en route to their 10th straight win after an initial loss, staying close to 9-0 pacesetters San Juan Knights, Quezon Huskers and Nueva Ecija Vanguards.

Showing why he's the reigning MPBL Most Valuable Player, the 6-foot-8 Baltazar chalked up 18 points and 17 rebounds that enabled Pampanga to rule the boards, 67-46, and pull down Negros to 4-8.

Encho Serrano backed Baltazar with 20 points, four rebounds plus two assists; and so did Jeff Viernes with 16 points plus four assists; and Archie Concepcion with 13 points, four rebounds and two assists.

The Muscovados got 30 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals from Renz Palma; 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals from Alvin Capobres; and 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks from James Paul Una.

While the Giant Lanterns had a blast, the South Cotabato Warriors needed the heroics of Christian Fajarito to crawl out of a 48-64 hole before squeezing out their fifth straight win for a 9-3 sate.

South Cotabato still trailed Binan, 62-73, when Fajarito poured eight in a 12-point spurt to put South Cotabato ahead, 74-73.

Binan regained the lead, 81-78, but Jammer Jamito knocked in two charities and Fajarito drilled in a one-handed floater with 10.7 seconds left for the final count that relegated Binan to a 6-3 card.

Fajarito wound up with 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Jamito posted 13 points plus 11 rebounds.

Other Warriors who delivered were Nico Elorde with 10 points, eight assists and two steals; Val Acuna with 10 points, two rebounds plus two assists; and Enzo Joson with nine points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Binan drew 19 points and 11 rebounds from Jaymar Gimpayan and 15 points and four rebounds from Nino Canaleta.

Manila SV Batang Sampaloc dumped Quezon City TODA Aksyon, 76-57, behind Francis Escandor and Ahmad Didat Hanapi in the opener to post its third straight win and rise to 8-4.

Escandor hit 5-of-6 triple tries and finished with 19 points plus four rebounds and two assists, while Hanapi ended up with 14 points, two rebounds and two assists.

James Sena chalked 10 points and three rebounds, while Carl Bryan Cruz added nine points and seven rebounds for Manila, which stormed ahead at 62-40, early in the fourth quarter.

Fielded for just 12 minutes and 28 seconds, 7-footer Greg Slaughter settled for eight points, seven rebounds and two assists for Manila, which got 12 assists and 6 rebounds from Enzo Navarro.

Brandrey Bienes and Rafael Are scored 19 and 13 points, respectively, for Quezon City, which got clobbered off the boards, 33-53, and tumbled to 4-7.

MPBL Founder and CEO Manny Pacquiao watched the South Cotabato-Binan tussle with his wife Jinkee and son Michael, who's officially the team owner of the Warriors.

The MPBL goes to the Caloocan Sports Complex on Friday with a triple bill pitting Abra against Sarangani at 4 p.m., Quezon against Bicol at 6 p.m., and Paranaque against Caloocan at 8 p.m.