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MANILA, Philippines — Quezon Province, General Santos City and Zamboanga SIKAT hurdled their rivals on Monday to forge a six-way tie for the lead in the Manny Pacquiao presents 1XBet-MPBL 2025 Season at the Bataan People's Center in Balanga City.
The Quezon Huskers flaunted their defense in a 58-45 victory over the Cebu Classic, the Gensan Warriors thwarted the Bataan Risers, 77-74, while Zamboanga pounded the boards to trip Sarangani, 82-67, in the round-robin elimination round of the 30-team tournament.
Quezon, Gensan and Zamboanga notched their second straight victory in as many outings and caught up with early pacesetters Abra, Pangasinan and Abra.
The Huskers stifled the Cebu gunners to just 30 points after three quarters, then leaned on LJ Gonzales' 10-point effort in the fourth to bolster their bid for a second straight South Division crown and another crack at the national title retained by the Pampanga Giant Lanterns last year.
Gonzales wound up with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals to clinch Best Player honors over Jason Opiso, who posted 13 points and seven rebounds.
Vince Magbuhos was the other Husker in twin digits with 10 plus seven rebounds.
Only Darell Manliguez struck back for Cebu, which slid to 1-1, with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists. Lean Vincent Martel settled for nine points and four boards, while Ladis Lepalam chalked up six points and nine rebounds for Cebu, which trailed by as far as 58-41.
The GenSan-Bataan encounter was a thriller, with the Risers climbing back from a 61-71 hole with 6:15 left.
A triple by Yves Sazon pushed Bataan to within 71-72, but Mark Cruz made one of three charities and Joel Lee Yu drove in to seal the outcome with only 3.9 seconds to go.
Although Hubert Cani quickly drilled in a triple for GenSan, Marwin Dionisio pegged the final count with two free throws.
Gensan's Aaron Jeruta was chosen best player with 10 points, seven assists, three rebounds and one steal, edging Cruz with 12 points, five assists, three rebounds and one steal; Joel Lee Yu with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal; and Larry Rodriguez with 10 points, six rebounds and one steal.
Bataan, which fell to 0-2, drew 12 points, three rebounds and two steals from Sazon; 10 points and eight rebounds from Carl Bringas; and 10 points, three steals and two assists from Cani.
Poor free throw shooting hounded the Risers as they converted only 16 of 32 attempts for 50%.
Powered by John Edcel Rojas, James Paul Una, Paul Turcu and Abdul Sawat, Zamboanga ruled the boards, 57-41, and translated it to a decisive 50-26 edge in points inside the paint.
Turcu tallied 15 points and nine rebounds to clinch Best Player honors over Sawat with 14 points and eight rebounds; Rojas with 12 points and 12 rebounds; and Una with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The count was tight, 39-38 at the half until Ichie Altamirano fueled a 14-4 Zamboanga run that left Sarangani behind till the end.
Sarangani suffered its third straight defeat despite Martin Gozum's 18-point, five-rebound, three-assist effort.
The Grippers also got 13 points from Arvie Bringas, 11 from Adven Jess Diputado and 10 from Larce Christian Sunga.
MPBL Founder and CEO Manny Pacquiao motored to Balanga, the provincial capital, to watch the games and give away T-shirts to the horde of spectators.
The MPBL goes to the Caloocan Sports Complex on Tuesday, with games pitting Batangas against Imus at 4 p.m., Pampanga against Marikina at 6 p.m., and Caloocan against Mindoro at 8 p.m.
The defending champion Pampanga Giant Lanterns are seeking a second straight win, while the Batangas City Tanduay Rhum Masters are gunning for redemption after being humbled by the Quezon Huskers, 70-46, at home on March 12.
