MPBL: Nueva Ecija, Pampanga on a roll; San Juan wins

MANILA, Philippines – Nueva Ecija and Pampanga trounced their opponents and extended their dominance in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila.

The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards subdued the Manila Stars, 107-96, while the Pampanga Giant Lanterns dumped the Bicol Volcanoes, 132-87.

The San Juan Knights thwarted the Oriental Mindoro Disiplinados, 116-100, in the opener and regained their bearing in the elimination round of the 29-team tournament.

Powered by Michael Mabulac, Will McAloney and Michael Juico, Nueva Ecija sped away, 62-42, in the third quarter before cruising to their ninth straight victory in as many starts.

Mabulac pooled 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks, McAloney tallied 19 points and eight rebounds, while Juico notched 17 points, 14 rebounds and four assists as the Rice Vanguards clobbered the Stars off the boards, 55-25.

John Bryon Villarias also contributed 15 points and five rebounds and Jay Collado 10 points for Nueva Ecija coach Jerson Cabiltes.

Manila, which tumbled to 2-7, got 28 points from Clark Bautista and 22 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals from Adrian Celada.

Unlike Nueva Ecija, Pampanga was unforgiving till the end.

With Archie Concepcion and Justine Baltazar showing the way, the Giant Lanterns led by as far as 128-82 en route to a 6-0 card.

Concepcion posted 22 points, five assists, three steals and three rebounds, while Baltazar tallied 21 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two steals for the Giant Lanterns, who also drew 18 points from Clifton James Gania, 17 points plus nine rebounds from Raymond Binuya and 15 points from Jonathan Del Rosario Jr.
Bicol tumbled to 0-9 despite the 23-point, six-assist, five-rebound effort of James Martinez and the 19-point, seven-rebound and six-assist output of Wowie Escosio.

Comfortably ahead, 91-81, San Juan got complacent and allowed Oriental Mindoro to threaten at 93-91 following the 8-point outburst of CJ Tolentino.

Adrian Nocom, however, countered with a triple and Yu bunched nine points to quell the rally and raise San Juan's card to 5-2.

Yu, the NCAA Season 95 Finals MVP from Letran, wound up with 24 points and 11 assists, while Ron Dennison finished with 22 points, four rebounds and three steals for the Knights.

Sherwin Concepcion fired 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Tolentino accounted for 21 points and 6 assists for Mindoro, which dropped to 1-8.

The MPBL returns to the Muntinlupa Sports Complex on Friday with a triple bill pitting Paranaque against Quezon City at 4 p.m., Bulacan against Bataan at 6 p.m. and Marikina against Muntinlupa at 8 p.m.