Batangas and Paranaque warded off their opponents on Saturday to gain a share of the lead in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.
The Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters repulsed the Iloilo United Royals, 71-64, while the Paranaque Patriots ambushed the South Cotabato Warriors, 73-64, for their second straight win in as many starts in the elimination round of the 30-team regional league.
Earlier, Manila SV Batang Sampaloc wasted a 12-point spread but held on to beat Bulacan, 75-72.
With Iloilo threatening, 61-64, following a triple by Mark Nonoy, Batangas responded with a 7-point run, courtesy of Cedric Ablaza, Dela Virgen and Dawn Ochea to seal the outcome.
Ablaza wound up with 18 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals to earn best player honors. No other Rum Master scored in twin digits with Juneric Baloria contributing nine points and Levi Hernandez, Dela Virgen and Jeckster Apinan chipping in eight points each.
Iloilo got 14 points and 6 assists from Mark Nonoy, 13 points and four rebounds from Gwyne Capacio, and 10 points plus four rebounds from CJ Cansino.
The Paranaque Patriots caught the favored Warriors napping to surge ahead, 40-25, and never looked back through the efforts of Jielo Razon, Mark Yee, Paolo Castro and Philip Manalang.
Razon finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds and four assists while homegrown icon Paolo Castro posted 16 points. It was Yee, however, who took best player honors following a 13-point, 18-rebound, four-assist output. Manalang also did his share with 8 points, 10 assists and 4 rebounds.
South Cotabato, which debuted with a 105-65 rout of Imus on April 10, got 12 points and 6 rebounds from John Wilson and 11 points plus 6 rebounds from Mark Cruz.
The Manila Stars clustered eight points, capped by a DJ Mitchell triple, to pull away, 73-61, with two minutes and 19 seconds to go.
The Bulacan Kuyas countered with a 9-point run to threaten at 70-73 with still 19.4 seconds left. Enzo Navarro, however, calmly canned two free throws to seal Manila’s first win in two games with 13.9 ticks remaining.
Manila, backed by Strong Group Athletics, was led by Carl Bryan Cruz with 17 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, 3 blocks and two steals. He was backed by Mitchell with 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The MPBL goes to the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Monday with a triple bill pitting Imus against Quezon City at 4 p.m., Marikina against Pampanga at 6 p.m., and Muntinlupa against Rizal at 8 p.m.
