The Rizal Xentromall Golden Coolers pulled away in the second quarter and never wavered to beat the Quezon City Galeries Taipans, 77-67, on Wednesday in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Olivarez College Gym in Paranaque.
Rizal clustered 12 points and held Quezon City scoreless in the last four minutes of that period for a 38-18 spread that snapped the Golden Coolers' three-game skid and raised their record to 6-3 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
John Apacible and Michael Canete presided over that pivotal run and sustained their drive in the second half, where the Taipans fought back through Vincent Cunanan and Franz Diaz.
Apacible wound up with 19 points and seven rebounds and was named the game's best player over Canete, who posted 15 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
Quezon City tasted its sixth straight defeat and tumbled to 2-7 despite Cunanan's 13-point, 6-assist, 5-rebound effort and Ibanez's 12 points and two steals.
With Marco Balagtas snagging 10 rebounds, Rizal ruled the boards, 58-39, and translated it to a big 44-22 edge in the paint.
The MPBL returns to the Olivarez College Gym on Thursday with games pitting Marikina against Mindoro at 4 p.m., Manila against Muntinlupa at 6 p.m., and host Paranaque against Cebu at 8 p.m.
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