Orphaned by its best player the past two seasons, Justine Baltazar, Pampanga still found a way to win big against its previous finals rival Quezon and the rematch of last season’s championship showdown ended up in an exciting wind up with the Giant Lanterns prevailing, 88-82, Saturday night in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Quezon Convention Center.
The Giant Lanterns did it collectively to fill up the huge void left by the two-time Most Valuable Player and two-time MPBL champion.
Larry Muyang had a double-double performance while Archie Concepcion came a rebound away from completing his own double-double game as the duo more than made up for the numbers left by the 6-foot-8 star.
Muyang finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds while Concepcion led the scoring parade with 17 markers on top of nine boards to go along with six assists for the Giant Lanterns, who improved their win-loss record to 9-1 while dealing the Huskers their second setback in 10 games.
The Giant Lanterns used their frontcourt advantage to the hilt, scoring 34 points, 12 more than their counterparts.
Quezon, the reigning southern division champion, was led by the returning Alfrancis Tamsi, who finished the game with 14 markers.
Also winning was Batangas City-Tanduay and Muntinlupa.
Still licking the wounds of their painful setback at the hands of the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys, the vengeful Rum Masters came out with a furious performance in running roughshod over the Paranaque Patriots, 92-53.
The Cagers of Muntinlupa survived Imus Braderhood in the homestretch to prevail, 64-57, and climb to 7-2 in the opener.
