THE San Juan Knights trounced the Davao Occidental Tigers, 95-79, on Friday to grab the solo lead in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Ynares Center Montalban in Rizal Province.
Barely ahead, 60-62, the Knights banked on Dexter Maiquez and Orlan Wamar to pull away, 93-75, and seal the wire-to-wire victory that raised their record to 21-1 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team, 2-division tournament.
Knights lead three-cornered race
San Juan moved half a game ahead of fellow playoff qualifiers Nueva Ecija and Abra, both with 20-1 slates.
Maiquez tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Wamar posted 12 points, 8 assists and 3 rebounds for coach Alex Angeles, who fielded all 15 players at his disposal.
Ron Dennison supported them with 11 points and 2 rebounds, followed by Aldrech Ramos and Nikko Panganiban with 8 points each.
The Tigers fell to 8-13 despite the 24-point, 5-rebound effort of homegrown Jansher Salubre and the 21-point, 6-assist, 3-steal, 3-rebound output of Reymart Escobido.
Imus victorious
Imus bunched 10 points to start the fourth quarter and went on to beat Bulacan, 92-83, in the opener.
Enrique Caunan scored six straight points and Kint Ariar added four as Imus seized control at 77-74 and climbed to 9-13.
Mark Anthony Doligon shone throughout and wound up with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, followed by Ariar with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, Jayvee Dela Cruz with 11 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds, Rey Acuno with 11 points and 2 steals, and Caunan 10 points plus 8 rebounds.
Bulacan, which fell to 3-19, drew 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists from Marlon Monte, 12 points plus 12 rebounds from Joseph Celso, 13 points from Gino Jumao-as, and 11 points from John Rey Sumido.
The MPBL visits the Lucena City Convention Center on Saturday, with games pitting Valenzuela against Caloocan at 4 p.m., Pampanga against Abra at 6 p.m., and host Quezon Province against Basilan at 8 p.m.
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