Nine teams have tried, but none of them had succeeded as Nueva Ecija continued its remarkable winning run in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League’s 2025 Season.
The Rice Vanguards found stiff resistance from the General Santos City Warriors, yet coach Don Dulay and his troops were still able to find wats to preserve their perfect following an 83-76 win on Saturday night at the Capital Arena in Ilagan, Isabela.
Billy Robles provided the much-needed lift for the Rice Vanguards to quell the hard-fighting Warriors as the veteran guard came a point away from posting a double-double game while the rest of the team equally distributed the numbers needed by the Rice Vanguards on keeping their spotless record in the tournament.
Although they kept their perfect record after nine games and remained as only one of two undefeated teams (along with San Juan) this early stage of the season, Nueva Ecija’s strength isn’t much visible on the offensive end.
Their top players can be seen more in the hustle and efficiency department as proven by their guards Jaycee Marcelino and Ryan Paul Costello.
Costello is the best when it comes to assist to turnover ratio, averaging 12, tied with Jeff Santos of Bataan.
Marcelino, on the other hand, is No.2 in steals with 2.56 spg.
Rob Celiz cracked the top five in defensive rebounds with an average of 6 drpg.
This means that the Rice Vanguards had been practically winning based on their collective effort, a formula for a team that is so determined to reclaim the national championship.
