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MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon Huskers let loose new gunners and mowed down the Batangas City Tanduay Rhum Masters, 70-46, on Wednesday in the Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-MPBL 2025 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Diego Dario, recruited to be Coach Erik Gonzales’s extension on the court, fired 13 points, including two triples, on top of six rebounds and one steal to clinch Best Player honors for the Huskers, who showed they're out to regain the South Division crown and challenge for the national title.
Juxdel supported the 5-foot-8 former University of the Philippines star with nine points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists, followed by Ximone Sandagon with nine points and five rebounds; and Vince Magbuhos, another prized recruit, with eight points and five rebounds.
With JP Sarao, Gab Banal and Magbuhos nailing a triple each, the Huskers surged beyond reach, 68-41, sending the horde of Batangas fans to the exits.
The Rhum Masters, beaten by the Huskers in last season's South finals, were thoroughly outplayed, with no one able to score in twin digits.
John Ambulodto's nine points and five rebounds; Philip Paniamogan's eight points and three rebounds; and Cedrick Ablaza six points and seven rebounds were the best Batangas could offer.
Earlier games saw General Santos City and Zamboanga Sikat trounce their opponents.
The Gensan Warriors banked on the hot hands of Val Acuna to subdue the Sarangani Grippers, 73-58, while Zamboanga Sikat rode on a closing first half spurt to trip Valenzuela Classics, 77-57.
Acuna drilled in seven triples en route to a game-high 21 points that sent the Grippers to their second straight defeat and the cellar of the 30-team field.
Mark Cruz also shone for Gensan, which sped to a 49-28 spread, with 12 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals; and so did Kyle Tolentino with 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Sarangani got 11 points, two rebounds and two assists from Adven Diputado; 10 points, four rebounds and three assists from Junjie Hallare; nine points from Martin Gozum; and eight points plus nine rebounds from King Destacamento.
The Zamboanga-Valenzuela game was close, 29-24, until JP Cauilan, Michael Are, Abdul Sawat and Ichie Altamirano conspired in a 12-point spurt for Zamboanga, which proceeded to lead by as far as 74-51.
It was 6-foot-5 center James Una, however, who clinched Best Player honors with 10 points and eight rebounds for Zamboanga.
John Arthur Calisay contributed 10 points and two rebounds; and Ichie Altamirano added nine points — all from beyond the arc — and two rebounds.
Homegrown Jul-Aashri Ignacio, Chino Mosqueda, John Edcel Rojas, Sawat and Are chipped in six points each in Zamboanga's display of balanced firepower.
Valenzuela drew 16 points, three rebounds and three assists from Jan Fomento; 11 points and 10 rebounds from Kobe Monje; and seven points, three assists and two steals from JR Ongteco.
Altamirano's perfect shooting and two triples each from Calisay and Ignacio raised Zamboanga's threes to 10 out of 26 tries. In contrast, Valenzuela drilled in only 4-of-24 attempts.
MPBL Founder and Chairman Manny Pacquiao watched the games for the second straight day.
The MPBL goes to the Cuneta Astrodome on Thursday with Imus battling Pampanga at 4 p.m., Cebu tackling Caloocan at 6 p.m., and host Pasay tangling with Ilagan Isabela at 8 p.m.
Isabela routed Sarangani, 74-54, in the MPBL seventh season opener on March 8, while Pasay bowed to Nueva Ecija, 72-84, on March 10. Although Imus Braderhood won over Mindoro, 83-75, on March 10, it is the underdog against Pampanga, the reigning back-to-back MPBL champion.
