Bataan met stiff resistance from Makati before pulling off an 81-77 victory on Monday in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season presented by Xtreme at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex.
The Bataan Risers stormed ahead, 54-30, at halftime only to encounter heavy fire from the Makati MNK Kingpins, who unraveled homegrown snipers Mark Angelo Samonte and Carlos Morales and threatened at 63-62 after three quarters.
Makati greeted the third quarter with a 15-point spurt, with Morales pouring back-to-back triples and 8 points and Samonte adding seven, including two triples.
Bataan kept its poise, however, and responded with nine straight points beginning the fourth quarter to notch its fifth straight win and climb to 6-1 in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 22-team tournament split into the North and South divisions.
Guilmer dela Torew led the Camaya Coast-backed Bataan with 17 points and 7 rebounds, followed by Jamil Gabawan with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Gio Espuelas with 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Samonte scored 16 of his game-high 22 points, laced by even treys, in the third quarter but couldn’t save Makati from absorbing its ninth straight defeat and falling to 1-10.
Makati also got 21 points from Larry Arpia, 13 from Kenz Rei Diokno, and 10 from Morales, who added 10 rebounds.
San Juan Go for Gold, learning to live without Korean Basketball League-bound Justin Gutang, trounced Muntinlupa, 84-56, in the nightcap to level its slate at 4-4.
Judel Ric Fuentes led San Juan with 19 points, followed by Jammer Jamito with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, Marwin Taywan with 11 points and Orlan Wamar with 10 points plus 6 assists.
Muntinlupa, which tumbled to 2-3, got 20 points from Domark Matillano and 11 points from Justin Alano.
Pasig City bested Imus Bandera Xtreme, 63-55, in the opener to jump to 5-3.
Jun Manzo came through with 20 points while Marc Lester Tamayo contributed 15 points and Robbie Manalang for Pasig, which pulled down Imus to 2-6 as only Genmar Bragais scored in twin digits with 13.
The MPBL returns to the Paco Arena on Tuesday with Nueva Ecija seeking its 11th straight win against Bacoor at 5 p.m. Other games pit GenSan (4-4) against Valenzuela (4-6) at 7 p.m. and Zamboanga (8-0) against Manila (4-5) at 9 p.m.
