The Gensan Warriors broke free in the third quarter, then fended off the Basilan Starhorse Portmasters’ final assaults to eke out an 85-78 win in the MPBL 2025 Season South Division quarterfinal playoff at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
Gensan bunched nine points, the last four by Larry Rodriguez for a 64-52 lead, from which Basilan couldn’t recover.
Jackson Corpuz, Kyle Tolentino and Rodriguez powered the Warriors to within a win of advancing to the semifinal round of the tournament that began with 30 teams in tow.
The 6-foot-4 Corpuz, formerly of the Philippine Christian University Dolphins, finished with 14 points, seven in the fourth quarter, plus 8 rebounds; Tolentino with 17 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds, and Rodriguez 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Val Acuna and Eloie Tan also delivered for Gensan with 11 and 9 points, respectively.
Basilan went down fighting, with Gab Dagangon pouring in 15 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, followed by Adi Santos with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals, and Arwind Santos with 15 points plus 7 rebounds.
In the other game, the Quezon Huskers rode on LJ Gonzales’ triple-double and Gab Banal’s clutch hits to subdue the Mindoro Tamaraws, 83-74.
Gonzales posted 14 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists on top of 2 blocks to power the Huskers in the opener of their best-of-three quarterfinal series.
Banal wound up with 19 points, including a triple that derailed the Tamaraws’ rally, 5 assists and 3 steals, and put the Huskers within a win of advancing to the semifinal round of the tournament.
