Pasig City crawled out of a deep hole to foil Bataan, 97-91, in overtime on Tuesday and rev up its drive in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the Ynares Center Montalban in Rizal Province.
Ahron Estacio drove in with 38.9 seconds left to extend the game, then scored four more points in extra time to help Pasig complete its recovery from a 15-point deficit and improve to 3-1 in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
In other games, the Quezon Huskers clobbered the Bacolod Masskaras, 113-61, in the second game to climb to 4-0, while Marikina turned hot in the second half and routed Negros, 96-75, in the opener to improve to 3-4.
Led by Louie Vigil, the Shoemasters detonated a 13-3 bomb to break free after three quarters, 52-44, then bundled 10 points in the fourth to post their biggest spread, 94-69, with 1 minute and 40 seconds left.
Jacob Galicia and Warlo James Batac also shone for Pasig, which trailed at 56-71 with 8 minutes and 56 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but knotted the count at 78 following back-to-back triples by Jerald Bautista and Buenaventura Raflores.
Batac made four charities against Hubert Cani’s triple for the Risers in the last 1 minute and 49 seconds of overtime, while Galicia tallied 16 points, 12 rebounds and 2 steals.
Former Pasig starter Chito Jaime and Hubert Cani combined for four points against Estacio’s floater to push Bataan ahead, 82-80, only for Estacio to drive in and extend the game.
Estacio pooled 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals and was chosen the SportsPlus best player. Batac notched 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, Raflores contributed 11 points and 7 rebounds, and Keith Pido 11 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
