Without “Spiderman” in Arwind Santos of Basilan Starhorse, the “Ant Man” in Mark Cruz of Gensan ruled the show.
Yes, even “Spiderman’s” longtime buddy in Alex Cabagnot – fondly called “The Crunchman” during their celebrated days at San Miguel Beer in the PBA – flashing his brilliance, the night simply belonged to the “Ant Man.”
With Cruz coming through with an all-around performance, the Gensan Warriors demolished the Basilan Starhorse Portmasters, 79-67, on Friday, Oct. 24, to advance to the semifinal round of the MPBL 2025 Season at the Olivarez College Gym in Paranaque City.
Behind, 57-58, after three quarters, Gensan uncorked a 16-4 spurt, capped by a triple by Cruz, to sway the balance, 76-62, with 2 minutes and 38 seconds left.
Cruz shared the scoring honors with Jack Corpus with 15 points each while Marwin Dionisio, who presided over that Gensan surge with seven points, wound up with 10 points.
Santos served out his indefinite suspension for his disqualifying foul on Gensan’s rugged forward Tonton Bringas during Game 2 of their quarterfinal series. Aside from suspension, Santos, a former PBA MVP, was also fined P100,000.
Bringas, who was shown in videos to have started it all, escaped punishment.
Basilan drew 18 points and 6 rebounds from Cabagnot, 14 points and 8 rebounds from Sherwin Concepcion, and 12 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists from Gab Dagangon.
Gensan will tangle with reigning South Division champion Quezon in another best-of-three affair in the semifinal round.
Gensan also prevailed in Game One, 85-78, but Basilan equalized with a 116-114 double overtime victory in Game Two.
