BATANGAS stretched its winning run while General Santos regained traction in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Batangas City Embassy Chill Athletics led throughout and bested the Sarangani Marlins, 63-56, while the GenSan Warriors routed Quezon City TODA Aksyon V Fresh, 118-77, in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
Powered by Levi Hernandez and John Ambulodto, Batangas surged ahead, 31-12, before cruising to its fifth straight and a 16-4 record that pushed the Athletics on top of the South division with the Bacoor Strikers.
Hernandez wound up with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while Ambulodto posted 11 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.
John Rey Villanueva contributed 9 points and 6 rebounds while Juneric Baloria added 8 points and 13 rebounds that enabled the Athletics to rule the boards, 56-41.
The Marlins, who dropped to 8-13, got 11 points each from Rafael Are and John Carlo Escalambre and 10 from Alex Desoyo.
Held to a 23-23 count early in the second quarter, GenSan took control behind a drive by Nico Elorde and back-to-back lay-ups by Jervy Cruz and pulled away by as far as 116-73 en route to a 15-5 card, also in the South.
The Warriors drew 34 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists from John Wilson, followed by Mark Cruz with 21 points, 5 rebounds plus 5 assists and Michael Alvarez with 14 points plus 5 rebounds.
Quezon City got 15 points each from Andre Flores and Martin Enriquez and 11 each from John Carlo Melegrito and Zeus Pedrosa, but still fell to 3-19.
Bacolod City subdued Valenzuela, 102-98, in the opener to climb to 9-12 and pull down its victim to 3-17.
Domark Matillano tallied 18 points for Bacolod, followed by John Cantimbuhan with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists plus 2 steals and Mark Sarangay with 14 points, 17 rebounds plus 3 assists.
The MPBL visits the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig on Thursday with a triple bill pitting Oriental Mindoro against Bataan at 4 p.m., San Juan against Paranaque at 6 p.m., and Bulacan against Pasig at 8 p.m.
