Warriors getting into MPBL groove

South Cotabato squeaked past Quezon City, 65-62, to sustain its upward drive in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Sixth Season at the Calasiao Sports Complex in Pangasinan on Friday.

The Warriors crawled out of a 15-point hole to seize control in the fourth quarter, 59-51, en route to their fifth straight win and an 8-3 record in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.

Mark Cruz tallied 14 points, five rebounds and four assists while Christian Fajarito submitted a double-double 11 points plus 10 rebounds for the Warriors.

Quezon City TODA Aksyon got 15 points, four rebounds and four assists from Rafael Are and 10 points from Josan Michael Nimes.

The Capitals had a chance to force overtime, but Are missed the first of two charities for a 62-63 count with 8.3 seconds to go.

Quezon City’s Enzo Joson then canned his two free throws for the final count that pulled down the Capitals to 4-6.

The Pangasinan Heatwaves halted their four-game slide with a 68-60 victory over the Parañaque Patriots in the nightcap.

Ed Daquiaog poured 11 of his 16 points and Hesed Gabo added five of his 16 in the fourth quarter to power Pangasinan to a 3-7 slate.

Ralph Robin was the other Heatwave in twin digit with 11.

Parañaque, hounded by poor free throw shooting, tumbled to 7-4.

The Patriots, who canned only 11 of 24 charities, got 13 points from JP Sarao, 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists from Jielo Razon and nine points plus 13 rebounds from John Uduba.

In the opener, the Iloilo United Royals rallied to subdue Imus Agimat VA Drones, 95-82, and improve to 3-8.