The Mindoro Tamaraws gored the dispirited Paranaque Patriots, 119-71, on Saturday, May 2, to regain traction in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Powered by Bambam Gamalinda and Joseph Sedurifa, the Tamaraws pulled away at 66-40, then clustered 19 points bridging the third and fourth quarters to move beyond reach, 89-47, for their second win in four starts in the two-division, 28-team tournament.
Gamalinda finished with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, while Sedurifa tallied 20 points, spiked by six triples, 7 rebounds and 4 assists to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors.
Homegrown Rodel Vaygan took over in the last eight minutes, pumping in all of his 17 points, highlighted by his fifth triple that pegged the final count with 22.4 seconds left and made the 38-year-old a member of the MPBL 1,000-point club.
Play was halted and Vaygan, a former MPBL All-Star, was awarded the lucky ball by MPBL Commissioner Emmer Oreta.
Other Tamaraws who delivered were Mark Montuano with 9 points, and Jayjay Caspe and RJ Ramirez with 8 each.
The Tamaraws took the half, 40-32, behind Gamalinda’s 11 points, and never wavered to hand the Patriots their sixth straight defeat.
The Patriots were so pathetic, not one of them scored in double figures, with Ryusei Koga and Alvin Pasaol the highest scorers with 9 each.
The MPBL returns to the Pasay Astrodome on Monday, featuring games between Quezon City and Bacolod at 4 p.m., Gensan and Iloilo at 6 p.m., and Pasay and Imus at 8 p.m.
