PARANAQUE led from start to finish as it pummelled Bicolandia, 110-90, on Wednesday in the sixth season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.
With Paolo Castro and Kristan Hernandez finding their range, the Patriots pulled away early on, 42-17, and never looked back on the way to their 10th victory in 16 games in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
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Castro finished with 23 points, two steals and two rebounds, while Hernandez finished with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Ford Ruaya added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, John Uduba also had a double-double of 11 points and 12 boards while homegrown JR Olegario chipped in 13 points.
Shaq Alanes’ 27-point, five-assist effort went down the drain as Bicolandia dropped to 2-14 for the tournament. Chris Javier added 21 points and nine boards, while John Edcel Rojas had a monster double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds.
Although the smaller team, the Patriots feasted in the paint, outscoring the Oragons down low, 72-48.
The margin could have been bigger if not for the Patriots' poor shooting from the charity stripe, where it made just 10 of 24 attempts.
The MPBL returns to the FilOil Ecooil Centre in San Juan on Thursday with games pitting Pasay against Bacolod at 4 p.m., Valenzuela against Muntinlupa at 6 p.m., and Pangasinan against Pampanga at 8 p.m.
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