Quezon Province extended its win streak while Biñan Tatak Gel revved up its playoff drive on Thursday, Sept. 11, in the MPBL 2025 Season at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna.
Although assured of the top spot in the South Division, the Huskers continued to flaunt their might with an 86-59 thumping of Imus Grumpy Joe in the second game of the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team, two-division tournament.
The Huskers’ seventh straight victory hiked their record to 23-4, beyond the reach of the Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters (18-9) in the South, which they also topped last year.
Biñan thwarted Bacolod, 85-56, in the nightcap to climb to 15-11 and catch Basilan at fifth place in the South.
Carlo Lastimosa led Biñan with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, followed by Kristan Hernandez with 17 points plus 6 rebounds, Jaymar Gimpayan with 13 points plus 6 rebounds, and Warren Bonifacio with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.
Also-ran Bacolod tumbled to 4-22 as only Mark Ray Dubouzet and Jaycee Sam Adjei struck back with 18 and 13 points, respectively.
Quezon got 14 points and 4 rebounds from Jason Opiso, 11 points and 4 rebounds from Judel Fuentes, 10 points and 3 rebounds from Joseph Gabayni, and 9 points plus 4 assists from Lucena City’s Topeng Lagrama.
Imus slipped to 9-18 despite Mark Doligon’s 24 points plus 5 rebounds, and Regie Boy Basibas’ 11 points plus 9 rebounds.
The Pangasinan Heatwaves turned hot in the third quarter and torched Manila Batang Quiapo, 111-66, in the opener.
Riding on JP Maguliano and Lervin Flores, Pangasinan bunched 14 points to pull away from Manila, 59-37, and rise to 18-7, tying Caloocan in the North Division.
Abra Solid North (24-1), Nueva Ecija (24-2) and San Juan (24-2) are assured of the top 3 spots in the North, leaving Pangasinan, Caloocan, Pasay (18-8) and reigning back-to-back titlist Pampanga (17-8) disputing the No. 4 slot which will also have the homecourt advantage in the playoffs.
Maguliano, a 6-foot-4 find from the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, posted 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to earn best player honors over Ralph Robin, with 15 points and 7 rebounds, and Jorey Napoles, with 15 points and 5 rebounds.
Flores wound up with 13 points and 5 rebounds, followed by Harvey Pagsanjan with 10 points plus 6 rebounds.
Also-ran Manila, which briefly led at 21-20, dropped to 3-23 despite Alfred Sedillo’s 23 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, Redgimir Eusebio’s 15 points plus 2 rebounds, and Stephen Torralba’s 14 points plus 3 rebounds.
The MPBL returns to the Paco Arena in Manila on Friday, with games pitting Ilagan Isabela against Marikina at 4 p.m., Basilan against Muntinlupa at 6 p.m., and Pampanga against Paranaque at 8 p.m.
