The Caloocan Supremos ran away with a huge 90-67 road victory against home team Solid San Juan in the Metro League Reinforced (2nd) Conference Thursday night at the San Juan Gym.
The Supremos banked on defense in the payoff period where they outscored Solid San Juan, 25-9, to transform a close 65-58 lead into a dominating 23-point victory to tighten their grip on the top spot of North Division with a 3-1 win-loss slate.
Joseph Brutas scored 22 points built on six triples to pace the Supremos while four players supported him with also double digit outputs led by Johnnel Rey Bauzon with 18 markers in just 20 minutes of play and Robbie Darang flirting with a triple double to the tune of 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Michael Canete continued on his impresive campaign with 18 points and 13 rebounds but still proved to be insufficient anew for Solid San Juan which slid to a 1-3 mark in the South Division.
In other games, Marikina Shoelanders held on to a slim 64-63 win over Pateros-Metro Asia to register its first win in the M-League that is backed by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and with Barangay 143 as league presentor.
Mel Mabigat tallied 12 points, six rebounds and four assists while import Jimmy Brown chipped in 10 points and 18 rebounds for the Shoelanders who improved to 1-1 in the South Division of this tourney which also has Synergy 88, World Balance, Excellent Noodles and San Miguel Corporation as major sponsors.
Returning Pateros player Rickson Gerero, on the other hand, had 23 points and four rebounds for the Metro Asia-backed squad which remained winless in three outings.
Meanwhile, Valenzuela Workhorse dealt the Taguig Generals their first loss in the tourney after also a close 72-67 victory behind Jeric Diego's 14 points and three rebounds.
