MANILA, Philippines – The reinforced Bacoor Strikers clobbered the Sarangani Marlins, 85-70, on Monday and joined the leaders in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.
Bolstered by the arrival of Jammer Jamito and James Kwekuteye, the Strikers pulled away from the Marlins in the fourth quarter, 80-57, before cruising to their fourth straight win in as many starts in the 29-team tournament.
Jhan Nhermal struck hardest for the Strikers with 22 points and nine rebounds, followed by Alwyn Alday with 13 points, two rebounds and two assists, and Kraniel Villoria with 10 points, three assists and two rebounds.
The 6-foot-5 Jamito wound up with nine points and six rebounds, taking some pressure off Mark Yee, who tallied 10 rebounds and five points. Kwekuteye, a 6-foot-3 Filipino-Canadian guard from San Beda, contributed seven points for Bacoor coach Alex Angeles.
Jamito canned a triple to cap a decisive 15-1 run to give Bacoor that 23-point spread with 4:31 to go.
The Marlins clustered 10 points to move within 70-80, but Jamito returned from the bench in the last minute to score Bacoor's last four points, including the game-sealing slam.
Sarangani, which fell to 2-2, got 13 points from Jeff Viernes, 11 from Danny Marilao, and nine from Rommel Calahat.
The Strikers caught up with the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards and the Muntinlupa Cagers at the top.
The MPBL returns to the Ynares Sports Arena on Tuesday with a triple-bill pitting Zamboanga against Mindoro at 4 p.m., Pasay against Valenzuela at 6 p.m. and Marikina against Caloocan at 8 p.m.