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MANILA, Philippines — Orlan Wamar turned hot when San Juan's win streak in the Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-MPBL 2025 Season was at stake on Wednesday.
Showing why he's the league's 3-point king, Wamar poured a record 22 points, spiked by six triples, in the fourth quarter as the Knights rallied to beat the Imus Braderhood, 89-83, and raise their record to 7-0 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
The 5-foot-6 Wamar, last year's Mythical Team member and current top playmaker, wound up with 28 points, nine assists, six rebounds, three steals and one block to earn Best Player honors and push San Juan closer to pacesetter Nueva Ecija (8-0) in the race for playoff spots.
The Pasay Voyagers thwarted the Basilan Viva Portmasters, 78-74, in the nightcap to climb to 7-3.
Trailing by 11 heading to the last four minutes, the Portmasters clustered nine points, sparked by Gab Dagangon's free throw and a triple, and capped by Sherwin Concepcion's triple, to threaten at 74-76 with 52.2 seconds to go.
The Voyagers, however, held the fort through split charities by Warren Bonifacio and Cyrus Tabi to notch their fourth straight win at their home court and pull down the Portmasters to 3-6.
Pasay was led by AJ Coronel, who went a perfect 7-of-7 on his field goal attempts en route to 17 points plus six rebounds; Laurenz Victoria with 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds; Bonifacio with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists; and Tabi with 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Basilan got 16 points and six rebounds from Dagangon; 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists from Alex Cabagnot; 11 points, five rebounds and two assists from Concepcion; and eight points, three assists and two rebounds from Enzo Navarro.
Michael Calisaan supported Wamar with 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals, and so did AC Soberano with 14 points, two rebounds and two steals.
San Juan trailed the Jayjay Caspe-led Imus, 74-60, early in the final period, until Wamar drilled in five triples and drove in once to knot the count at 81 with 2:32 left.
Caspe put Imus back on top with a layup, but the Braderhood went silent the rest of the way while the Knights dropped eight points, capped by Wamar's sixth triple and two free throws with 42.2 seconds to go.
Wamar, who holds the MPBL record of 12 triples, eclipsed the 19 points for a quarter set by Jeff Viernes, then with the Sarangani Marlins, on June 3, 2023.
Imus absorbed its third straight loss and tumbled to 4-5 despite Caspe's 27-point, six-rebound, five-assist, two-steal and two-block effort; Jaypee Belencion's 19 points, four rebounds and four assists; and Mark Anthony Doligon's 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Rizal Xentromall Golden Coolers pulled away in the second quarter and never wavered to beat the Quezon City Galeries Taipans, 77-67, in the opener.
Rizal clustered 12 points and held Quezon City scoreless in the last four minutes of that period for a 38-18 spread en route to the win, which snapped the Golden Coolers' three-game skid and raised their record to 6-3.
John Apacible and Michael Canete presided over that pivotal run and sustained their drive in the second half, where the Taipans resisted through Vincent Cunanan and Franz Diaz.
Apacible wound up with 19 points and seven rebounds and was named the game's Best Player over Canete, who posted 15 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
Samboy De Leon provided support with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists, and so did Keanu Caballero with nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
The league returns to the Olivarez College Gym on Thursday with games pitting Marikina against Mindoro at 4 p.m., Manila against Muntinlupa at 6 p.m., and host Paranaque against Cebu at 8 p.m.
