THE Mindoro Tamaraws rained triples on the Muntinlupa Cagers in the fourth quarter and handily won, 94-76, on Saturday in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Pola Gymnasium in Oriental Mindoro.
Led by Joseph Sedurifa's two triples, the Tamaraws bunched six to pull away, 92-70, with 2 minutes and 3 seconds left in the nightcap of a triple-bill.
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In the opener, the Pangasinan Heatwaves won by forfeiture, 20-0, over the Bacolod Tubo Slashers in the opener to gear up their drive with a 10-5 card and relegate Bacolod to 2-13.
The Tubo Slashers refused to get out of their dugout after the break, forcing Technical Head George Magsino to discard the 50-30 halftime lead of Pangasinan and adopt the 20-0 score stipulated by FIBA (International Basketball Federation) rules in such a situation.
The Tubo Slashers wanted to field their new acquisitions, but were turned down as they had yet to comply with some requirements in the trading window.
Sedurifa, a 6-foot-1 Cebuano hotshot, then scored inside to seal the Tamaraws' third straight win that raised their record to 10-8 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
Wendel Comboy delivered 20 points, including four triples, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals for Mindoro, which also got 18 points, spiked by four triples, 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals from Bambam Gamalinda, and a near triple-double 13 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists from Axel Inigo.
Fil-Am Ashlon Andrews also shone for Mindoro with 8 points, including a two-handed breakaway slam, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
Muntinlupa, which suffered its fourth straight defeat, tumbled to 10-6 despite Patrick Ramos' 18 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds, Kurt Lojera's 15 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds, and Mark Sarangay's 12 points plus 7 rebounds.
The Rizal Xentromall Golden Coolers routed the Imus Braderhood, 114-77, in the second game.
Dominant off the boards, 52-32, Rizal posted its biggest spread at the final buzzer to recover from back-to-back losses and climb to 10-6.
Michael Canete paced Rizal with 16 points and 6 rebounds, but Neil Tolentino clinched Best Player honors with 14 points and 3 rebounds.
Other Golden Coolers who turned hot were Eric Camson with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, and Alwyn Alday with 10 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
Powered by Tolentino, Canete and Alday, the Golden Coolers took the half, 50-37, and proceeded to pull down Imus to to 7-10.
Imus drew 18 points and 6 rebounds from Mark Doligon, 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists from Kint Ariar, and 14 points plus 2 rebounds from Ryusei Koga.
The MPBL returns to the Cuneta Astrodome on Monday with games pitting Manila against Caloocan at 4 p.m., Quezon City against Abra at 6 p.m., and host Pasay against GenSan at 8 p.m.
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