Abra, Biñan and Cebu beat separate opponents on Monday, Sept. 22, to rev up their drive in Manny Pacquiao Presents MPBL 2025 Season at the MRB Covered Court along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.
Pacesetter Abra Solid North battered Pasig City, 101-77, in the opener to tally its 24th straight win and a 26-1 record in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team, 2-division tournament.
Biñan Tatak Gel routed Quezon City, 101-72, in the nightcap to improve to 17-11 and climb to joint fourth in the South Division, assuring itself of a playoff berth.
The Cebu Greats thwarted the Bacolod Slashers, 80-71, in the second game to finish their regular season with an 11-18 slate and in contention for a play-in spot.
The seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th finishers in the North and South Divisions will figure in the play-ins for the last two playoff berths. The top six in each division will advance outright to the best-of-three playoffs.
Against also-ran Bacolod (4-24), Cebu leaned on Limeul Tampos with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, Jun Manzo with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Paul Desiderio with 8 points and 8 rebounds, and Mark Meneses with 4 points, 19 rebouunds and 3 assists.
Bacolod drew 13 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists from Mark Ray Dubouzet, 11 points from John Lemuel Peralta, and 10 points plus 4 rebounds from Miles Canal.
Cebu hopes that Sarangani (10-18) would lose its final game to Caloocan (18-8) to advance to the play-in.
Marwin Taywan presided over the Weavers’ romp with 13 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds to earn best player honors over homegrown Georell Gonzales, with 12 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, and Top Gun Dave Ildefonso, with 12 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
Other Weavers who shone were CJ Austria with 11 points plus 3 rebounds, homegrown Woll Keane Lee with 9 points, and Enrico Joaquin Garcia with 9 points from 3 triples.
Abra leads the North Division and overall standings, followed by Nueva Ecija (26-2), San Juan (25-3), and South Division frontrunner Quezon Province (24-4).
Pasig, which got 19 points from Mark Montuano, 13 from Jacob Galicia, 12 each from John Felix Corpuz and Jerome Garcia, and 11 from Josan Nimes, skidded to 12-16, but is assured of the play-in with Bataan (12-16) in the North Division.
Biñan was powered by Renzo Subido with 22 points and 4 assists, Kenny Roger Rocacurva with 18 points, and Bam Lopez with 11 points.
Quezon City drew 16 points from Sidney Mosqueda and 10 each from Regie Tauto-an amd Dave Bernabe.
The MPBL goes to the Paco Arena on Tuesday, with games pitting Manila against Davao at 4 p.m., Zamboanga against Caloocan at 6 p.m., and Marikina against Basilan at 8 p.m.
