MANILA, Philippines – Manila SV Batang Sampaloc pulled away after three quarters and never wavered to beat Zamboanga Master Sardines, 86-78, in the 6th MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Season elimination round at the Olivarez College Gym in Paranaque.
Powered by Joshua Torralba, the Manila Stars surged ahead, 70-56, then quashed the Zamboanguenos uprising entering the fourth quarter to tally their 19th victory against eight losses and secure the fourth playoff slot in the North Division of the 29-team tournament.
Zamboanga, on the other hand, wound up with a 20-8 card and tumbled from second to fourth spot in the South Division behind Batangas and Binan, which also finished the round-robin elimination phase at 20-8.
In the tiebreaker, Batangas emerged with the best goal difference, followed by Binan, and Zamboanga. Quezon Province (21-6) is assured as the South's top seed.
Like top North qualifiers San Juan (26-2), Pampanga (26-2) and Nueva Ecija (24-4), Manila will have the homecourt edge in the best-of-three playoffs against No. 5 qualifier Caloocan (18-9) starting on October 5.
The Manila Stars drew 23 points and 5 rebounds from Torralba, who clinched the Daily Fantasy best player honors, 13 points plus four rebounds from Jorey Napoles; and 10 points plus seven rebounds from 7-footer Greg Slaughter. Enzo Navarro also delivered for Manila with eight points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Zamboanga, which will battle Paranaque (17-10) in the South playoffs, got 33 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals from former Most Valuable Player Jaycee Marcelino; and 13 points each from Renzo Subido and Joseph Terso.
Earlier games saw Iloilo subdue Sarangani, 72-69, and Valenzuela thwart Marikina, 71-66.
Paolo Hubalde, Reeve Ugsang and Mark Montuanop chalked double-doubles for Valenzuela, which closed its campaign this year with a 14-14 slate.
Hubalde posted 16 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals; Ugsang 16 points, 11 rebounds and two steals; and Montuano 10 points plus 12 rebounds. Carl Bryan Lacap complemented their efforts with 13 points and 3 rebounds.
Marikina, which skidded to 7-20, got 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists from Jethro Escoto; and 12 points, five assists and three rebounds from Jomel Landayan.
With Clint Doliguez at the helm, the Iloilo United Royals notched their third straight win and wound up at 11-17 in the South Division.
Doliguez tallied 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists; Omar Larupay 18 points plus 11 rebounds and Tzaddy Rangel 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals as Iloilo pulled Sarangani down to 5-22 despite the 26-point output of Marvin Hayes and the 21-point contribution of Ryan Isaac Sual.
The MPBL returns to Olivarez College on Monday, September 30, with games pitting Quezon City against Bicolandia at 4 p.m., South Cotabato against Quezon Province at 6 p.m., and Abra against Paranaque at 8 p.m.