THE Basilan Starhorse Portmasters and Pangasinan Heatwaves beat their opponents on Monday and revved up their drive to the playoffs in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Calasiao Sports Complex in Pangasinan.
Basilan pounced on listless Zamboanga Sikat, 76-64, to extend its hot run to five in the round-robin elimination round and climb to 15-11 (win-loss) in the South Division of the 30-team tournament.
READ Pasig stuns Ilagan Isabela to keep MPBL playoff bid alive
Pangasinan thwarted Cebu, 83-77, and improved to 17-7, good for the fifth spot in the North Division.
Emman Calo powered Basilan with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, supported by Gab Dagangon with 14 points plus 5 rebounds, Sherwin Concepcion with 11 points plus 5 rebounds, and Arwind Santos with 10 points plus 9 rebounds.
Although Zamboanga is in third place in the South with a 17-9 slate, it has 3 tough games left against Binan Tatak Gel, Quezon Province and Caloocan.
Only Reggz Gabat struck for Zamboanga against Basilan with 19 points and 4 rebounds.
Jorey Napoles led Pangasinan with 19 points, 17 rebounds and 3 steals, Allyn Bulanadi with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, and Pedrito Galanza and Hesed Gabo with 9 points each.
Cebu tumbled to 10-17 despite Jun Manzo's 18 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds, Reeve Ugsang's 12 points plus 8 rebounds, and Paolo Hubalde's 12 points plus 4 assists.
Pasig City crawled out of a deep pit and stunned Ilagan Isabela, 75-67, in the opener.
Down by 17 points (33-50), Pasig leaned on Jacob Galicia and Warlo James Batac to seize control midway through the fourth quarter, 66-61, and rise to 11-15.
Galicia double-double
Galicia, a prized find from the Philippine Merchant Marine School, posted game-highs of 24 points, 12 in the last ten minutes, and 14 rebounds to clinch Best Player over Batac, who tallied a triple-double 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Homegrown Lester Tamayo pooled 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists for Pasig, which dealt Ilagan Isabela its third straight defeat for a 13-14 slate.
The MPBL returns to the Ynares Center Montalban on Tuesday, with games pitting GenSan against Quezon City at 4 p.m., Batangas against Abra at 6 p.m., and host Rizal Xentromall against Paranaque at 8 p.m.
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