MANILA, Philippines – What was expected to be a tight fight turned out to be lopsided as Marikina dumped Rizal XentroMall, 90-70, on Monday in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
The Marikina Shoemasters led by as many as 26 points (79-53) en route to their 11th win against 10 losses in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
Joe Gomez De Liano fueled Marikina's offense with 19 points, and he had five rebounds and two assists to earn best player honors over Marwin Dionisio, who contributed 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Homegrown Jomel Landayan also did his part for Marikina with 12 points.
The Golden Coolers suffered their 13th loss in 22 starts as only Jeric James Pido carried the scoring load with 27 points plus four assists and three rebounds.
Rizal's main man Troy Mallillin was held to eight points, seven rebounds and four assists by the pesky Marikina defenders.
The MPBL returns to the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Tuesday with a triple-bill pitting GenSan against Quezon City at 4 p.m., Valenzuela against Bacolod at 6 p.m., and Sarangani against Batangas at 8 p.m.