The Basilan Viva Portmasters started hot and kept the heat throughout to rout the Cebu Classic, 87-55, on Wednesday to sustain their recovery in Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-MPBL 2025 Season at the Paco Arena in Manila.
Thriving with an 11-man rotation, Basilan surged ahead, 27-12, after the first quarter, padded the lead to 20 at halftime, then bundled 18 points, highlighted by Reymar Caduyac’s back-to-back triples, in the fourth to notch its first back-to-back win and improve to 5-7 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
Nueva Ecija leads the race for playoff berths with a 12-0 slate, followed by Abra (11-1), San Juan (11-1), Zamboanga (11-2), Quezon Province (10-2) and Muntinlupa (10-2).
Sherwin Concepcion led Basilan with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, complementing Emman Calo’s 11-point, 4-assist, 2-steal effort and Ady Santos’ 10-point, 4-rebound output.
With the team’s runaway win, co-team owner Jackson Chua treated the team to a late dinner at the family-owned Red Dynasty restaurant in Manila.
Gab Dagangon and Enzo Joson contributed 9 points each, while James Tempra and Caduyac added 8 each for the Portmasters, who are bidding to make this year’s playoffs after taking a leave of absence from 2022 to 2024.
With only eight players suiting up, Cebu tumbled to 4-9.
The Classic got 16 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists from homegrown Mark Meneses, 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists from Limuel Tampus, and 9 points plus 7 rebounds from 6-foot-9 Ladis Lepalam.
Sarangani ripped Manila Batang Quiapo, 111-87, in the nightcap and improved to 3-10.
Coy Alvez, a 6-foot-6 frontliner, led Sarangani with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, followed by Junjie Hallare with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, Martin Gozum with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and Richard Velchez with 12 points plus 10 rebounds.
Manila tasted its 12th straight defeat after an initial win despite John Ashley Faa’s 29 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, and Richard Albo’s 20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Kyt Jimenez knocked in a long buzzer-beating triple to push Sarangani ahead, 46-35, at halftime.
The Mindoro Tamaraws warded off the Bacolod Tubo Slashers’ final assault to prevail, 76-63, and level their slate at 7-7 in the opener of the tripleheader.
