BATANGAS continued its rise with a wire-to-wire 75-60 victory over Sarangani on Tuesday in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Olivarez College Gym in Paranaque City.
The Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters made it back-to-back and returned to the upper half of the 30-team field with a 6-5 card.
Powered by Cedrick Ablaza, Levi Hernandez and John Ambulodto, Batangas surged to a 42-24 halftime spread, which Sarangani couldn't recover.
Hernandez posted 20 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals to lead the Rum Masters while Ambulodto added 11 points and six rebounds.
Jeckster Apinan and Mark Niel Cruz posted all around numbers with the former chipping in nine points, nine rebounds and four assists, while the former finished with nine points, eight boards, four assists, and two steals and two blocks.
Sarangani, which tumbled to 2-10, got 19 points and five rebounds from Junjie Hallare and 11 points plus eight rebounds from Coy Alves.
Batangas acquires towering Fil-Am
The Rum Masters, bent on duplicating their 2018 MPBL inaugural triumph, have acquired the services of 6-foot-10 Fil-Am CJ Lane.
A former La Salle, Gilas and Ginebra prospect, the 30-year-old Lane is in the United States and will join the Rum Masters in August.
The MPBL will return to the Alonte Sports Arena on Wednesday with games pitting Muntinlupa against Davao at 4 p.m., Gensan against Basilan at 6 p.m., and Rizal against host Binan at 8 p.m.
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