The streaking Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards flaunted their depth and strength in an 88-52 drubbing of the Marikina Shoemasters on Saturday in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
Led by Robby Celiz and Will McAloney, all but one of the 15 players fielded by Coach Don Dulay scored as the Rice Vanguards cruised to win no. 12 in as many games in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
Nueva Ecija is ahead of Abra (11-1) and San Juan (10-1) in the race for playoff berths.
Celiz chalked up 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, while McAloney tallied 10 points, six rebounds and two assists for Nueva Ecija, which led by as many as 85-47 before completing the wire-to-wire triumph.
Marikina, which fell to 2-11, got 12 points and four rebounds from Karl Penano, and 11 points and three rebounds from Raymond Casajeros.
The Rice Vanguards dominated the boards, 53-30, and parlayed this advantage to 48 points in the paint against 22 for the Shoemasters.
The MPBL goes to the San Andres Sports Complex on Monday with games pitting Valenzuela against San Juan at 4 p.m., Pangasinan against Davao at 6 p.m., and Pasig against Batangas at 8 p.m.
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