NUEVA Ecija beat Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines, 69-56, and clinched the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme national title at the Mayor Vitaliano Agan Coliseum in Zamboanga City.
Recovering their bearing from a 65-75 beating in Game 3, the Rice Vanguards struck hard in the second quarter to pull away for good and cut short the best-of-five championship series, 3-1.
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Held to a 15-15 count after the first 10 minutes, Nueva Ecija greeted the second quarter with 14 straight points, the first 8 by Byron Villarias, then dropped another 10-point salvo to zoom ahead to the biggest spread of the series, 39-19.
Villarias wound up with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals to earn best player honors and get the citation as Finals MVP.
Other players who shone for Nueva Ecija were Michael Juico, who finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds; Michael Mabulac, who ended up with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals; and Jonathan Uyloan, who contributed 9 points, all from triples.
Nueva Ecija took the first two games at home, 81-75, and 75-74.
MPBL All-Star and season MVP Jayvee Marcelino tried to inject life back to Zamboanga, but the most the South division champions could do was cut the lead a bit at 40-24.
Marcelino tallied 17 points, but no other Zamboanga player could contribute doubles figures with Jhaymo Eguilos, Ralph Tansingco and Cyrus Tabi chipping in 7 each.
The Rice Vanguards were able to break away by controlling the boards, 59-40, negating their poor free throw shooting, which saw them make only 7 of 23 attempts for 30.4 percent.
In contrast to their Game 3 triple shooting, when they only made 1 of 19 tries, the Rice Vanguards drilled in six treys, including two by Villarias and one by Taganas, who snared 10 rebounds.
MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes handed the P14-million trophy to Cuevas during the awarding ceremony held after the game.
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