MANILA, Philippines – Quezon Province withstood Makati's final assaults and prevailed, 80-72, on Saturday in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
Starting strong behind their outside shooting, the Huskers surged to a 37-20 spread before halftime only to be pursued relentlessly by the OKBet Kings, who threatened thrice in the fourth quarter the last at 72-75 following a five-point cluster by Emman Calo with 39 seconds to go.
The Huskers, however, countered with a closing five-point salvo to post their 10th win against four losses in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
Raffy Verano again shone for Quezon with 16 points, including eight in the last quarter, and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-3 former Ateneo Blue Eagle was supported by Alfrancis Tamsi with 13 points (laced with three triples) and homegrown Topeng Lagrama with nine points, all from rainbow territory, and Mon Abundo with eight points.
The Huskers also drew two triples each from Verano and Robin Rono en route to a total of 13 out of 29 attempts.
Makati, which slipped to 9-5, got 16 points and 10 rebounds from Rob Celiz, 11 points and 12 rebounds from Billy Robles and 11 points plus 5 rebounds and 2 steals from Calo.
Earlier games saw Bacolod City of Smiles nip Bulacan, 85-84, following a short stab by John Cantimbuhan with only 1.4 ticks left, and Muntinlupa beat Negros, 77-71.
Powered by Val Chauca's 22 points, five assists and three rebounds, Bacolod climbed to 6-9, the same as Bulacan, which got 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists from Buenaventura Raflores.
Chauca, a Filipino-Peruvian guard from the California Golden Bears, was backed by Regie Boy Basibas with 13 points plus eight rebounds and Mark Sarangay with 11 points plus five rebounds.
Muntinlupa rose to 8-6 following the 12-point, 11-rebound, five-assist, four-steal output of John Delos Santos, the 12-point, seven-rebound effort of JP Sarao, the 12-point, five-rebound contribution of John Amores, and the 11-point, five-assist, four-rebound line of John Abis.
Negros dropped to 5-10 despite Jason Melano's 29-point, 11-rebound effort and Nemesis Dela Cruz's 19-point, seven-rebound contribution.
The MPBL returns to the Batangas City Coliseum on Monday with a triple bill pitting Iloilo against GenSan at 4 p.m., Bataan against Zamboanga at 6 p.m., and Nueva Ecija against Batangas at 8 p.m.