Zamboanga, Binan, Ilagan Isabela chalk up MPBL wins

MANILA, Philippines — Zamboanga SiKat leaned on John Edcel Rojas' clutch points to nip Marikina, 75-74, and stayed close to the pacesetters in the 1xBet-MPBL 2025 Season presented by Manny Pacquiao at the WES Arena in Valenzuela on Wednesday.

Rojas made a follow-up to knot the count, then converted his second free throw with 2.6 seconds left to lift Zamboanga to its 4th win against one loss in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.

Zamboanga gained on Nueva Ecija and Rizal Xentromall, both 5-0, Quezon Province (4-0) and San Juan (3-0), caught up with Pangasinan and Abra, and moved ahead of reigning back-to-back champion Pampanga and Caloocan, both 3-1, in the race for playoff berths.

The 6-foot-2 Rojas, formerly of St. Clare College, wound up with 13 points and five rebounds to complement Abdul Sawat's dominant 17-point, 15-rebound, five-assist performance, and JP Cauilan's 13-point, nine-rebound, three-assist output.

Marikina suffered its sixth straight defeat despite Nem Dela Cruz's 24-point, four-assist, three-steal effort, and Julius Tiburcio's 10 points, four rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

Binan Tatak Gel leaned on Kenny Roger Rocacurva's and Carlo Lastimosa to pip Valenzuela, 69-66, in the nightcap.

Trailing 62-50, Valenzuela rallied behind Kyle Drexler Neypes and JR Alabanza and tied the count at 66 with 1:07 left.

Rocacurva, however, drove in to shatter the deadlock, while Lastimosa made the first of two free throws with 3.9 ticks to go for the marginal points that lifted Binan's card to 3-3.

Binan drew 10 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks from Jaymar Gimpayan; 10 points, six rebounds and two steals from Marc Pingris; 10 points and seven rebounds from Christian Fajarito; 10 points from Kristan Hernandez; and nine points, seven rebounds and two assists from Rocacurva.

Valenzuela, which fell to 2-4, got 13 points, four rebounds and three assists from Neypes; nine points and six rebounds from Alabanza; and nine points plus two assists from JR Ongteco.

The Ilagan Isabela Cowboys hit targets in the second half and subdued the Quezon City Galleries Taipan, 80-72, in the opener.

Arth Dela Cruz, Mark Dyke and Joshua Guiab combined for 29 points in that span, enabling the Cowboys to pull away, 70-55, en route to a 3-3 slate.

Dela Cruz, the Cowboys' Top Gun, posted 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists; Guiab 14 points plus eight rebounds; and Dyke 10 points plus 11 rebounds as Ilagan snapped a two-game slide.

Gab Gomez notched 14 points and eight rebounds and was chosen Best Player.

Quezon City, which tumbled to 2-3, got 12 points, nine assists and five rebounds from Vincent Gregg Cunanan, and nine points each from Jerome Santos and Ry Aijer De la Rosa.

Ahead in rebounds, 48-42, the Cowboys outscored the Taipans in second-chance points, 21-6.

The league goes to the San Andres Sports Complex on Thursday with games pitting Quezon Province against Pasay at 4 p.m., Caloocan against Gensan at 6 p.m., and Pampanga against Manila at 8 p.m.