The San Juan Knights trounced Caloocan Batang Kankaloo, 76-61, on Monday, May 5, and extended their winning run in Manny Pacquiao presents MPBL 2025 Season at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Powered by Arvin Gamboa and Michael Calisaan, the Knights surged ahead, 43-28, at halftime and kept control throughout en route to an 8-0 record in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
San Juan, the 2019 MPBL champion, trails 2022 titlist Nueva Ecija (9-0) and paces reigning back-to-back champion Pampanga (9-1), Quezon Province (9-1) and Abra (9-1) in the race for playoff spots.
AC Soberano, Dexter Maiquez and Orlan Wamar, took over in the second half as the Knights, being coached by Alex Angeles, led by as far as 76-58.
Wamar posted 12 points, 13 assists and 6 rebounds to earn best player honors over Soberano, with 14 points spiked by 4 triples and 3 rebounds, and Maiquez,14 points and 6 rebounds.
Calisaan finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds while Gamboa tallied 11 points and 6 rebounds.
Caloocan, which dropped to 6-4, got 10 points each from Rommel Calahat, Jeff Manday and Reil Cervantes.
Zamboanga SiKat blitzed Muntinlupa in 2 minutes and 14 seconds and prevailed, 82-75, to remain close to the leaders with an 8-2 card.
The count was tied at 60, until John Edcel Rojas drove in and Abdul Sawat, Reggz Gabat, Roi Sumang fired 3 points each against two charities by Kurt Lojera, pushing Zamboanga away, 71-62, with 4 minutes and 11 seconds left.
Sumang notched 16 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds, Sawat 13 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists, and Gabat 11 points as Zamboanga pulled down Muntinlupa to 6-2.
Muntinlupa got 14 points each from Lojera, Dom Matillano and Buenaventura Raflores, 13 from Cantimbuhan and 11 from Patrick Ramos.
The Sarangani Gripper cruised past the Bulacan Kuyas, 148-111, in the freewheeling opener that broke two MPBL records.
Sarangani’s score eclipsed the 146 San Juan posted against Mindoro on Sept. 13, 2022, while the combined 259 surpassed the 257 totals of Sarangani (134) against Nueva Ecija (123) on June 3, 2023, and Bacolod (130) against Imus (127) on Sept. 27, 2024.
King Destacamento, Sarangani’s 6-foot-4 frontliner, drove in with 27.1 seconds left to shatter both records, giving significance to the game between cellar-dwellers.
Arvie Bringas presided over Sarangani’s second win against eight losses with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists, followed by Destacamento with 21 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks.
Other Grippers who delivered were Coy Alves with 16 points and 8 rebounds, Martin Gozum with 16 points and 3 rebounds, Kyt Jimenez with 15 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks; Adven Jess Diputado with 11 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals; and Ken Brillantes with 11 points and 7 rebounds.
The Kuyas, who dropped to a league-worst 0-11 record, got 30 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists from John Rey Sumido, 17 points and 3 assists from Gino Jumao-as, 14 points and 3 assists from homegrown John Edmar Gonzaga, 13 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds from Marlon John Espiritu, and 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists from Jebb Bulawan.
The MPBL goes to the Paco Arena in Manila on Tuesday with games pitting Paranaque against Bacolod at 4 p.m., Cebu against Rizal at 6 p.m., and Valenzuela against Imus at 8 p.m.
