Nueva Ecija returned to winning track following a a 96-86 wire-to-wire victory over Negros on Saturday in Season 6 of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.
Hurting from back-to-back losses, the Rice Vanguards surged ahead, 31-19, after the first quarter and never looked back to improve to 13-2 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
Will McAloney led the Rice Vanguards with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, followed by John Wilson and Ed Daquiaog who had 15 points each.
Robby Celiz also delivered with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks for Nueva Ecija, which trails only Quezon Province (15-0), Pampanga (16-1) and San Juan (13-1) in the standings.
Behind Daquioag’s five, Nueva Ecija converted nine of their 21 attempts from downtown, a stark contrast to Negros who fired blanks from downtown, making just six of their 22 attempts.
Renz Palma and Jeremy Cruz led five double-digit scorers for Negros who dropped to 7-11.
The MPBL goes to the San Andres Sports Complex on Monday, July 15, with games pitting Sarangani against Pasay at 4 p.m., Mindoro against Paranaque at 6 p.m., and Davao against Manila at 8 p.m.
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