CALOOCAN Batang Kankaloo found its rhythm in the second half and trounced Quezon City Galeries Taipan, 84-71, on Thursday to climb the MPBL 2025 Season ladder at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Trailing, 37-38, at halftime, the Batang Kankaloo banked on Rommel Calahat to seize control after the third quarter and proceed to their fourth straight win for a 10-4 card in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
Calahat poured 18 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter, eclipsing the entire Taipans' 11 points and towing the Batang Kankaloo to a 66-49 spread.
The 6-foot-2 Calahat, a prized forward out of San Sebastian College-Recoletos, added six rebounds and three assists to earn best player honors over Jeff Manday, who fired 17 points, laced by four triples, and grabbed five rebounds.
Quezon City tasted its third straight defeat and dropped to 3-10. The Taipans drew 12 points on four triples from Ry De La Rosa and 11 points from Jason Strait.
The Batang Kankaloo controlled the boards, 44-27, and translated this to more second-chance points, 17-9, in the game that saw 19 lead changes and six deadlocks.
The MPBL goes to the University of Bangued Gymnasium on Saturday with games pitting Imus against Marikina at 4 p.m., Nueva Ecija against Batangas at 6 p.m., and host Abra against Quezon at 8 p.m.
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