Rizal Xentromall increased its chances for a playoff spot in Season 6 of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) after dominating Bulacan, 85-63, on Tuesday at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.
Powered by Marco Balagtas, the Golden Coolers posted their 10th win in 18 games to keep a stronghold of the sixth spot in the North Division of the 29-team tournament.
The former JRU Heavy Bomber finished with a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds, which he spiked with five assists to earn best player of the game honors.
Bambam Gamalinda and John Apacible added 13 points apiece while Janjan Salzar finished with 10.
The Golden Coolers ruled the boards, 50-32, and, as a result, tallied more second chance points, 21-9, as well as points inside the paint, 30-22 in the rout.
Out of contention for the quarterfinals, Bulacan tasted its eighth straight defeat and tumbled to 2-17.
Tigers pounce on Gregzilla’s absence
Meanwhile, the Davao Occidental Tigers took advantage of Greg Slaughter’s absence as it snapped the Manila SV Batang Sampaloc Stars winning streak to eight following a 92-82 win on Monday at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila.
Arth Dela Cruz just missed out on a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead the the 2021 MPBL champions to their 12th victory against five losses.
The Stars sorely missed out on the absence of the 7-foot Slaughter who was posting averages of 17.1 points and 10.8 rebounds before this game.
Mac Tallo and Bonbon Custodio supplied the firepower from the backcourt with 15 points apiece.
Without Slaughter, it’s Rabeh Al-Hussaini who carried the fight for Manila with the former UAAP MVP dropping 18 points for Manila. John Catimbuhan added 15 points for the Stars but it wasn’t enough as they dropped to 13-5.
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