The Quezon Huskers slowed down the San Juan Knights’ high-octane offense and prevailed, 78-71, on Thursday to keep the top spot in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2025 Season South division at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Quezon’s Christian Pagaran and Mon Abundo sandwiched a drive by San Juan’s Gerry Abadiano for the game’s biggest lead, 71-61, with 4 minutes and 4 seconds left that paved the way for the Huskers’ sixth straight victory and a 13-2 slate in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 26-team tournament.
San Juan saw its 13-win run broken and skid to 15-2 in the North division as the Knights felt the absence of Japan B. League-bound Michael Phillips and the impending departure of Abadiano, who played his last game before moving over to the Korean Basketball League.
In other games, the Cebu Greats sustained their recovery with an 87-74 victory over the Marikina Shoemasters, while the Basilan Steelers sped away early and never looked back to beat Manila Batang Quiapo, 102-89.
Quezon’s Cedrick Manzano, a member of the gold-medal clinching Gilas Pilipinas to the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, posted 14 points and 12 rebounds to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors over Michael Canete, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Meantime, Byron Villarias sizzled with 35 points, spiked by eight triples, and 6 rebounds to earn the best player accolade as Basilan climbed to 10-11 and returned to the eighth spot in the South division.
Powered by Limuel Tampus and Alfrancis Tamsi, Cebu pulled away at 70-52 en route to its second straight win after back-to-back losses at home and a 16-5 record.
The Knights narrowed the gap following a triple by Orlan Wamar and two charities by Mon Abundo, but Cyrus Tabi countered with two free throws and Christian Pagaran split his two charities to send the pro-San Juan crowd to the exits, 76-68, with 44.3 seconds left.
The Knights, who also missed head coach Alex Angeles, drew 14 points and 5 rebounds from Michael Calisaan, 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks from Raul Soyud, and 10 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds from Wamar, and 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
