South sinks North; Jackson, Cruz soar

The South All-Stars rode on a buzzer-beater jumper by Eric Camson to nip their counterparts from the North, 82-81, in the Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) 2025 Season All-Star Game at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna on Saturday.

Atoning for two airball triples earlier, Camson, of Rizal Xentromall, got the inbound with 1.5 seconds left and did not hesitate to take the fallaway off the outstretched arm of Dave Ildefonso and seal the thriller that avenged the Southerners' back-to-back losses to the Northerners in 2023 and 2024.

Nueva Ecija's Jaycee Marcelino gave the North back the lead, 81-80, from a 10-point deficit with a jumper with only 5.2 ticks left.

It was Quezon Huskers' Judel Fuentes who clinched Most Valuable Player honors as he bunched 12 points that pushed the South to a 77-67 spread in the fourth quarter.

Fuentes posted 18 points, four rebounds and two steals for South coach Eric Gonzales, who is also his mentor with the Huskers.

Camson finished with 11 points and five rebounds, Samboy de Leon, also of Rizal, tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds; Jun Manzo of Cebu added 10 points, two assists and two rebounds; and Marvin Hayes of Muntinlupa notched nine points.

North coach Yong Garcia drew 21 points, four rebounds and two assists from Marcelino, 16 points, six assists and four rebounds from Ildefonso; nine points each from Pampanga's Larry Muyang and Pangasinan's Vic Manuel, and four points each from Abra's Raven Gonzales and Pampanga's Archie Concepcion.

The victory, which came after 21 lead changes and seven deadlocks, was worth P500,000, given by MPBL founder and chairman Manny Pacquiao, for the South team, which drew seven points from Biñan's Warren Bonifacio.

Meanwhile, Shean Jackson of San Juan ruled the Slam Dunk Contest while Mark Cruz of General Santos City conquered the Three-Point Shootout.

Jackson displayed his high-flying antics and scored perfect 50s in all of his tries to dethrone Joe Gomez de Liaño of Manila as slam dunk king.

Cruz, on the other hand, rediscovered his deadeye shooting to emerge as the league’s top gunner.