Pasay stuns Batangas as San Juan, Rizal win in MPBL

LOS ANGELES – Laurenz Victoria hit a dagger jumper at the buzzer to power Pasay past Batangas, 65-64, on Thursday in the 6th MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Season at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.

The long 2-pointer by the former Mapua Cardinal capped a closing seven-point run by the Voyagers in the last 64 seconds that reversed the outcome of the game controlled by the Batangas City Rum Masters for a little over 20 minutes.

Patrick Sleat's floater and triple sparked Pasay's comeback from as far as 34-47 and as late as 58-64 with only 88 seconds left, pushing the Voyagers record to 3-1 in the elimination round of the country's top regional league.

The Voyagers drew 15 points plus three rebounds from Sleat; 12 points, five rebounds plus seven assists from Victoria; and 14 points plus eight rebounds from Warren Bonifacio.

Batangas skidded to a tie with its tormentor at 3-1 as Cedric Ablaza's 18-point, 12-rebound, two-steal, two-block, two-assist effort went for naught. Levi Hernandez was the other Rum Master in twin digits with 10 points.

Other games saw Rizal XentroMall cruise to a coast-to-coast 92-81 victory over South Cotabato and San Juan trounce Iloilo, 106-78.

Alwyn Alday sparkled for Rizal, which climbed to 4-0 and shared the lead with Paranaque and Zamboanga, with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists; while Villoria provided solid support with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Homegrown John Apacible also shone for Rizal with 12 points plus five rebounds; followed by Marco Balagtas with 11 points and four rebounds.

South Cotabato, formerly GenSan, trailed by as many as 31-55 and skidded to 2-2. The Warriors got 19 points and five rebounds from Val Acuna; 14 points from Mark Cruz; 12 points from John Wilson; and 10 points plus six rebounds from Kyle Tolentino.

Tiny Orlan Wamar towered over the field as the San Juan Knights overwhelmed the Iloilo United Royals and improved to 2-0.

The 5-foot-6 Wamar tallied game-highs 24 points, nine assists, eight rebounds plus 4 steals and was instrumental in shoving San Juan to a 104-72 spread.

Wamar also joined the MPBL 1,000-point club and was rewarded by Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes with the ball he used to score the pivotal points.

Other Knights who delivered for Coach Sen. Jinggoy Estrada were AC Soberano with 13 points, Zach Huang with 12 points, and Marwin Taywan, AC Soberano and Reynel Hugnatan with 11 each.

Iloilo, which tumbled to 1-3, got 19 points from CJ Cansino, 11 points from Ry Aijr De La Rosa and 10 from Clint Doliguez.

The MPBL returns to the Alonte Sports Arena with a triple bill on Friday, April 26. The games pit Bicol against Pampanga at 4 p.m., Imus against Davao at 6 p.m. and Quezon City against Binan at 8 p.m.