Huskers wrest solo MPBL lead

Quezon Province trounced Caloocan, 66-56, to grab the solo lead in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Sixth Season late Thursday at the Caloocan Sports Complex.

With the count tied at 35, the Huskers clustered 12 points, the last eight by Jason Opiso, to pull away, 47-35, and went on to extend their winning streak to 11 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.

The Huskers moved ahead of the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards (10) and kept their distance from the Pampanga Giant Lanterns (11-1).

Judel Fuentes led the Huskers with 15 points, three assists and two rebounds, complementing the 13-point, 11-rebound effort of Ximone Sandagon and Opiso’s 10 points plus three rebounds.

Caloocan, which led at 20-14, dropped to 6-4 as the Batang Kankaloo’s guns misfired, with Reil Cervantes and Rommel Calahat emerging top scorers with nine and eight points, respectively.

Other games saw Zamboanga subdue Sarangani, 90-83, and Manila drub Imus, 96-58.

Powered by Joseph Gabayni and Bong Galanza, Zamboanga Master Sardines pulled away at 84-55 before cruising to its 10th win against three losses.

Gabayni wound up with 15 points, 17 rebounds and three assists while Galanza finished with 13 points, five assists and three rebounds.

Top Gun Jaycee Marcelino posted 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while Jayson Castro Apolonio contributed 11 points, three rebounds and two assists for Zamboanga Coach Louie Alas.

Sarangani dropped to 3-10 despite the 18-point, three-rebound, two-assist output of Ryan Isaac Sual and the 10-point, 11-rebound effort of Jebb Bulawan.

With seven-footer Greg Slaughter at the helm, Manila notched its fourth straight win and climbed to 9-4.

Slaughter tallied 20 points, 11 rebounds and one block in 17 minutes and 16 seconds of play as the Manila Stars ruled the boards, 58-39, and led throughout. He was supported by Francis Escandor with 16 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds, Ahmad Didat Hanapi with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Carl Bryan Cruz with 11 points, two rebounds and two assists.

Imus, which tumbled to a league-worst 0-13 record, got 13 points and five rebounds from John Rey Sumido and 12 points, five rebounds and three steals from Russelle Aniba.