Rizal stands tall, clobbers Sarangani

Rizal Xentromall sustained its hot streak with a 106-77 dumping of Sarangani in the Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 2025 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum on Wednesday.

The Golden Coolers pulled away, 90-65, midway through the fourth quarter to notch their fourth straight win and share the lead with the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.

Imus Braderhood rallied to beat Quezon City, 69-62, in the second game, while Batangas City Tanduay rebounded with a coast-to-coast 74-68 victory over Basilan Viva in the nightcap.

Burying the memory of a harrowing 86-87 loss to Rizal on 21 March, Batangas unloaded a 12-point salvo to break away at 14-2, then deflected Basilan’s repeated rallies to level its slate at 2-2.

Levi Hernandez, who sparked that early spurt, went on to tally 16 points and three rebounds and emerge the Best Player of the game that saw the Rhum Masters clobber dominate the boards, 53-37, en route to 19 second chance points against none for the Portmasters, who slumped to 1-3.

Mark Niel Cruz posted 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists; MJ dela Virgen 10 points and three assists; Jong Baloria eight points, four rebounds and two assists; and Cedrick Ablaza eight points, five rebounds and two assists.

Basilan, which came to within 73-66 on a six-point run, got 16 points, four assists and two rebounds from veteran Alex Cabagnot, 13 points, five rebounds and four assists from Emman Calo, 11 points plus 10 rebounds from Adi Santos, and seven points, seven assists and four rebounds from Enzo Navarro.

Trailing most of the way, Imus finally tied the count at 54, then bunched nine points to shatter the last deadlock at 56 and raise its card to 3-2.

Jhon Jerick Caspe posted 22 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three blocks for Imus, while Kint Ariar complemented his effort with 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.