Abra sweeps Quezon to win MPBL crown
MANILA, Philippine — The Abra Solid North Weavers completed their sweet sweep of the Quezon Huskers with a 94-85 overtime victory on Tuesday and became the 747 Live presents Manny Pacquiao MPBL 2025 Season national champions at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
Although the North Division king Weavers cut short the best-of-five series, 3-0, the feat that extended their record winning streak to 36 was far from easy.
The Huskers proved to be a worthy adversary. The back-to-back South Division titlist yielded Game One, 81-90, also in overtime, and fell short in Game 2, 62-58.
Abra's dream run was achieved mainly through the Most Valuable Player-worthy effort of Dave Ildefonso, the methodical precision of Jason Brickman, and the all-out effort of Encho Serrano.
Ildefonso, chosen the league's best player before the game, pumped in seven of his 23 points, while Serrano added six of his 21 in a decisive 13-2 run in the extension period to seal the Weavers' ascension to the throne, 92-82, with only 23.2 seconds to go.
Brickman, who was named the Finals MVP after averaging 17 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists, capped his playoffs-long brilliance with two free throws after a triple by Mon Abundo.
Struggling in the early going, Ildefonso wound up with 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal; Brickman finished with 22 points, including three clutch triples, five assists, two rebounds and one steal.
Serrano, who became the first MPBL player with three national titles, contributed 21 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one steal for Abra coach Yong Garcia, who was the runaway choice for Coach of the Year.
Other Weavers who delivered in Game 3 were Mike Ayonayon with nine points, including a triple that sparked Abra's comeback from a 61-70 deficit in the last five minutes of regulation play, three rebounds and one steal; John Uduba with six points, 10 rebounds and one assist; and Marwin Taywan, who ignored the pain of injuries for five points and three rebounds.
The Huskers—who were also swept by the Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the 2024 National Finals—drew 15 points from Judel Fuentes, who missed the first two games due to an ankle injury; 12 points, nine rebounds and two steals from Ximone Sandagon; 10 points, six rebounds and two steals from Alfrancis Tamsi, and 10 points plus two rebounds from Joshua Yerro.
LJay Gonzales, who carried the fight for Quezon in the first two games, ended up with 11 assists, six points, six rebounds, one steal and one block.
Abra Weavers team owner, Cong. JB Bernos and his wife, Cong. Ching Bernos, congratulated the Weavers for bringing pride and joy to the Abrenos.
"This is history for a lonely province like ours," said JB Bernos. "The boys keep on coming back. Ayaw talaga nilang magpatalo. This is the character I want for the team and Abra, yong ayaw patalo."
MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes handed out the championship trophy to the Weavers, led by the Bernoses, Garcia and team manager Chris Conwi.
Pasay handed Abra its lone loss 70-60, of the season on March 19, 2025, after which the Weavers went on a winning spree, including a 2-0 sweep of Ilagan Isabela in the quarterfinal round, a 2-0 sweep of Caloocan in the semifinals, and a 3-0 sweep of Pangasinan in the North Finals.
Abra, which reached the quarterfinal playoffs in its maiden stint last year, joined Batangas (2018), San Juan (2019), Davao Occidental (2021), Nueva Ecija (2022), and Pampanga (2023-2024) in the MPBL champions list.
Game 3 was a blockbuster, luring a record 160,000 live viewers, according to MPBL CEO Joe Ramos. Also present were Operations Head Emmer Oreta and Chief of Security Rudy Distrito.
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