Defending champion Pampanga banked on a fourth quarter scoring spurt to subdue Nueva Ecija, 91-85, and extend its hot streak in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Season 6 Saturday at the jampacked Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City.

Archie Concepcion’s triple sparked the Giant Lanterns’ decisive 13-4 run to turn a one-point deficit into an 88-80 advantage with 2:03 left in the game on the way to their 14th straight win after an initial loss in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.

Nueva Ecija threatened at 88-84 following a couple of charities by Emman Calo and a layup by Robby Celiz, but Pampanga’s Allen Liwag drove in with 26.4 seconds to go to end the Rice Vanguards’ perfect 12-game run and allow Quezon Province (13-0) to keep the solo lead.

Concepcion wound up with 20 points, spiked by four triples, three rebounds and three steals while reigning Most Valuable Player Justine Baltazar had an all-around performance of 16 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

Kurt Reyson added 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals, Encho Serrano got 15 points, six assists and four rebounds while Rence Alcoriza scored 10 and pulled down seven boards for Pampanga.

Will McAloney paced the 2022 titlist Nueva Ecija with 23 points and seven rebounds. JC Cullar finished with 11 points and eight assists, Celiz had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists while JB Villarias put in 10 points for the Rice Vanguards.

In other games, Pasay bested Bataan, 82-78, and Valenzuela thwarted Bacolod, 88-81.

Powered by Patrick Sleat, Laurenz Victoria and Warren Bonifacio, the Pasay Voyagers returned to orbit after a three-game skid and climbed to an 8-7 win-loss record.

Sleat tallied 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Victoria had 16 points while Bonifacio posted a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The Risers, on the other hand, suffered their third straight defeat and plummeted to a 4-11 slate. Bataasn saw the 23 points and eight rebounds of Rhaffy Octobre and the 17-point, four-rebound output of Yves Sazon come to naught.

Meanwhile, returning Dennis Santos poured 23 of his 29 points in the first half to lead Valenzuela to an 8-8 card.

New acquisition Mark Montuano made his presence felt with 18 points and eight rebounds while veteran Paolo Hubalde filled the stats box with seven points, 12 assists, eight boards and three steals.