Streaking Biñan Tatak Gel led throughout and swamped Marikina, 97-59, to secure a top four spot in the South Division of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Sixth Season on Tuesday at the Paco Arena in Manila.
Biñan cruised to its eighth straight win and climbed to 19-8, sharing third and fourth places with Batangas and moving beyond reach of Parañaque (16-10) in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
Powered by Pierce Tyron Chan, Pamboy Raymundo, Joseph Peñaredondo and Jaymar Gimpayan, Biñan led by as far as 71-31 late in the third quarter before easing up on also-ran Marikina, which slumped to 7-18 following its fourth straight defeat.
Raymundo posted 13 points, including three triples, and five assists to clinch the Daily Fantasy best player honors over Chan, who tallied 14 points, spiked by four triples, and five rebounds.
Peñaredondo contributed 11 points while Gimpayan wound up with 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Hardly missing Marc Pingris, Biñan ruled the boards, 51-40, and buried Marikina with 48 points inside the paint to gain the homecourt advantage in the three-game playoffs like division leaders Quezon Province and Zamboanga, both with 20-6 slates.
Led by Chan and Raymundo, Biñan drilled in 12 triples while Marikina could only convert five.
Playoffs-bound Caloocan trounced Bulacan, 91-71, in the opener to climb to 16-9 and secure a spot in the North Division playoffs.
Led by Joshua Flores with 14 points and 6 rebounds and Reil Cervantes with 10 points and three rebounds, the Batang Kankaloo improved to 16-9, out of reach of the Abra Weavers (15-10), Rizal Golden Coolers (14-12), Quezon City Capitals (13-13) and Valenzuela Classics (13-13), who are disputing the last two playoff seats in the division being lorded over by overall leaders San Juan (25-1), Pampanga (26-2) and Nueva Ecija (22-3).
Manila (18-8) and Pasay (17-10) have also qualified for the three-game quarterfinal round.
Iloilo stunned Bataan, 104-100, in overtime in the second game between also-ran teams.
Sustaining their strong performance in regulation play, Mark Nonoy and Clint Doliguez combined for 12 points in the extra period, surpassing the Risers’ 10 points and pushing the United Royals to a 9-17 card.
Nonoy wound up with 32 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals while Doliguez finished with 21 points and 11 boards.