MPBL: Pasay escapes Iloilo; Imus, Pasig win

MANILA, Philippines – The Pasay Voyagers leaned on Laurenz Paul Victoria's two free throws with six seconds left to thwart the Iloilo United Royals, 84-85, on Monday in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

Victoria's clutch charities pushed the Voyagers ahead by four, 85-81, and negated Lorenzo Navarro's buzzer-beating triple for Iloilo.

Pasay raised its record to 17-10, while Iloilo closed its campaign in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 29-team tournament with a 12-16 card.

The Voyagers are assured of the seventh playoff spot in the North Division, while the United Royals wound up the eighth and last qualifier in the South Division.

Victoria posted 23 points, 11 rebounds plus three assists to complement the 18-point, 13-rebound effort of fellow Mapua Cardinal Jeric Serrano.

Iloilo got 24 points from Joshua Flores, who went scoreless in the fourth quarter, 12 points, 10 assists plus two steals from Navarro, and 14 points plus four rebounds from JR Ongteco.

Earlier, Imus SV Squad dumped Bicol, 107-66, and Pasig City MCW Sports subdued Negros, 85-76.

Powered by homegrown Junjie Hallare's 21-point, seven-rebound, three-assist, two-steal output and Poypoy Actub's 16-point, five-rebound, two-steal effort, Imus rose to 15-12 and handed Bicol a league-worst 1-27 final slate.

Ryan Costelo again played the key role in Pasig's 19th win against nine losses with 18 points, 10 in the first quarter and eight in the fourth, to earn his seventh Player of the Game citation.

The 5-foot-6 Costelo, a former San Sebastian Stag, was ably backed up by Rey Peralta with 15 points, all in the second quarter, Tyrone Chan with 14 points, and his backcourt partner Robbie Manalang with 14 points, seven assists and two steals.

As things stand, Pasig will wind up either fifth or sixth in the South division being led by Pampanga (24-2), Nueva Ecija (22-5), Makati (20-7), San Juan (19-7) and Caloocan (19-8), which it can still displace at No.5 if Batang Kankaloo drops its last game against the Sarangani Marlins on Thursday.

The also-ran Muscovados, who trailed by as far as 37-62 early in the third quarter, ended their stint this year with a 10-18 slate.

The MPBL visits the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center on Tuesday with Oriental Mindoro tackling Quezon City at 4 p.m., San Juan battling Marikina at 6 p.m., and Muntinlupa testing Pampanga at 8 p.m.