The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards displayed depth and power in its 96-50 dumping of the Bulacan Kuyas on Thursday in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Pitted against the league's cellar-dwellers, the Rice Vanguards led by as many as 98-46 en route to their tenth straight win that tightened their grip of the lead in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
Nueva Ecija paces San Juan (8-0), Pampanga (8-1), Abra (8-1) and Quezon Province in the race for playoff spots.
With the outcome beyond doubt after three quarters, 83-38, Nueva Ecija Coach Don Dulay fielded all 15 players on the roster, only three of whom failed to score.
Will McAloney tallied 19 point and 11 rebounds to lead the way for Nueva Ecija, while Byron BVillarias and Christian Manaytay added 17 and 15 respectively.
The Bulacan Kuyas absorbed their 12th straight despite Gino Jumao-as' 20 points.
Apart from poor field goal shooting, sinking only 15 of 54 tries, the Kuyas were further hampered by 16 turnovers that led to 28 points by the Rice Vanguards, who are bidding to duplicate their championship in 2022.
The MPBL returns to the Paco Arena on Friday with games pitting Sarangani against Abra at 4 p.m., Ilagan Isabela against Zamboanga ta 6 p.m., and Manila against Quezon City at 8 p.m.
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