BINAN Tatak Gel leaned on Pamboy Raymundo's clutch triples to subdue Pasig, 79-72, on Wednesday night and continue its climb in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.
Pasig rallied to within 59-62, early in the fourth quarter, but Raymundo drilled in three treys in four minutes to seal Binan's fifth straight win, 74-68, and sixth in nine games in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
Nueva Ecija paces the race for playoff spots with a 9-0 card, followed by San Juan (8-0), Pampanga (8-1), Abra (8-1) and Quezon Province (8-1).
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Veteran Jeff Chan fired 16 points, highlighted by four triples, in the first quarter to push Binan ahead, 25-15, from which Pasig couldn't recover and suffer its fifth straight defeat after a 2-0 start.
Carlo Lastimosa added 12 points, including Binan's last four, followed by Raymundo's timely 9 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, and Kenny Roger Rocacurva's 9 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Pasig drew 17 points and 6 rebounds from Mark Montuano, 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists from Christian Rivera and 10 points plus 10 rebounds from Warlo James Batac.
The Mindoro Tamaraws also sustained their recovery with a 101-79 trashing of the Davao Occidental Tigers in the second game.
Powered by Joseph Sedurifa, Wendelino Comboy and Brandrey Bienes, Mindoro led as far as 101-74 and climbed to 5-6 with four victories in its last five games.
Sedurifa chalked up 23 points and 8 rebounds, Comboy 16 points plus 2 rebounds, and Bienes 10 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds to the delight of Mindoro Tamaraws team owner Mayor Jennifer "Ina" Cruz, who watched the games.
Davao, which dropped to 3-3, got 16 points and 5 assists from Reymart Escobido, 14 points, 4 rebounds from homegrown Jansher Salubre, and 4 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists from Harold Arboleda.
The Bataan Risers struck from afar and ruled the boards to rout the Marikina Shoemasters, 103-69, in the opener.
The MPBL returns to the Cuneta Astrodome on Thursday with games pitting Bulacan against Nueva Ecija at 4 p.m., Pangasinan against Gensan at 6 p.m., and host Pasay against San Juan at 8 p.m.
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