Pampanga, San Juan trounce MPBL rivals
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AGEM Miranda makes his presence felt, leading the San Juan Knights to an 89-59 win over the Quezon Huskers in the Sixth Season of the MPBL.
photograph courtesy of MPBL
Pampanga and San Juan trounced separate rivals to keep their 1-2 spots in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Sixth Season Monday night at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Giant Lanterns subdued South Cotabato, 83-75, to notch their 21st win after an initial loss while the Knights routed Quezon, 89-59, to rise to 19-1 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
Reigning league Most Valuable Player Justine Baltazar posted 21 points and 18 rebounds to earn his seventh Daily Fantasy Best Player honors for Pampanga, which pulled away at 82-69 to pull South Cotabato down to 14-8.
Other Giant Lanterns who shone were Archie Concepcion with 14 points, Rence Alcoriza with 13 points plus four steals and Jhaymo Eguilos with 11 points plus nine rebounds.
South Cotabato drew 15 points and 10 rebounds from Kyle Tolentino, 13 points and seven rebounds from Larry Rodriguez and nine points plus 10 assists from Mark Cruz.
San Juan broke away by halftime, weathered Quezon’s third-quarter flurry, then went full throttle in the fourth to pull down the Huskers to 17-3.
Powered by Dexter Maiquez, AC Soberano and Orlan Wamar, the Knights led, 49-30, at the break.
The Huskers, however, greeted the third quarter with an 18-point cluster sparked by LJ Gonzales and capped by Xyrus Torres’ back-to-back triples to threaten at 48-49.
The Knights kept their composure and countered through Agem Miranda, Wamar and Reynel Hugnatan to pull away anew, 64-51, after three quarters.
The Huskers could come no closer than 56-68 before the Knights, through Maiquez and Soberano, bunched the game’s last 11 points to complete the rout.
Maiquez finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds, Soberano with 15 points, Miranda with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Wamar with 11 points, four rebounds and five assists.
Only Ximone Sandagon struck back for Quezon with 18 points and 11 boards.
The Negros Muscovados routed the Bulacan Kuyas, 83-64, in the opener to improve to 11-12.
Renz Palma flirted with a triple-double with 22 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists while four other Muscovados contributed double figures as Negros led by as far as 79-54 halfway through the fourth quarter.
