Imus Braderhood withstood Sarangani's fiery rally and prevailed, 94-89, on Monday to gain traction in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.
The Braderhood wasted a 20-point spread and allowed the Grippers to knot the count at 85 before banking on offensive rebounding in the last 25 seconds to notch their fourth win against two losses in the round-robin elimination round of the 30-team tournament.
Kint Ariar delivered 20 points and 10 rebounds to earn best player honors over fellow Imus starters Mark Doligon who finished with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists, and JJ Caspe with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Sarangani suffered its sixth straight loss despite the 25-point, 13-rebound effort of Larce Christian Sunga and the 22-point, eight-rebound, two-block output of King Destacamiento.
Sarangani threatened at 89-92 following two free throws by Diputado with 53.5 seconds to go, but could not complete the comeback as it yielded four offensive rebounds to Imus in the homestretch.
Caspe sealed the outcome with a free throw, 93-89, before Doligon pegged the final tally with another charity.
The MPBL goes to the Ynares Center 2 Montalban for the first time on Tuesday with games pitting Muntinlupa against Bulacan at 4 p.m., Paranaque against Davao at 6 p.m., and Mindoro against host Rizal at 8 p.m.
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