Giant Lanterns shine bright, clobber Classic

Pampanga recovered from a sluggish start to thwart Valenzuela, 69-64, and stay within sight of the Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 2025 Season pacesetters at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga on Tuesday.

The reigning back-to-back champions trailed the Classic by as many as 8-22 and needed a nine-point run to tie the count before notching their 15th win in 20 starts in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.

Pampanga trails fellow North Division teams Abra (18-1), Nueva Ecija (18-1) and San Juan (17-1), and South Division leader Quezon Province (15-3) in the chase for playoff spots.

Larry Muyang was the Giant Lanterns’ bright light with game-highs 16 points and 14 rebounds, followed by Jhan Nermal with nine points, three rebounds and two blocks, and John Ashley Faa with seven points, four rebounds and two steals.

Pampanga top gunner Archie Concepcion couldn’t find his range, making only one of 12 field goal attempts, and settled for four points.

Valenzuela, which fell to 4-17, drew 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals from Jan Formento, and 13 points plus three rebounds from Kobe Monje.

Earlier, Biñan Tatak Gel led throughout in a 55-47 victory over Muntinlupa and climbed to 12-7.

Kristan Hernandez and Warren Bonifacio tallied 10 points and seven rebounds each for Biñan, which also drew six points and six rebounds from Jaymar Gimpayan.