Nueva Ecija, Binan and Paranaque tripped separate rivals on Wednesday and boosted their playoff drives in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.
The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards leaned on their tight defense in the second half to subdue the Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters, 66-58, in the second game while Binan Tatak Gel needed a closing scoring binge to subdue Davao Occidental, 75-66, in the nightcap.
The opening game saw the Paranaque Patriots flaunt their sharpest form yet in a 110-83 thrashing of the Negros Muscovados.
Nueva Ecija, the 2022 champion, held Batangas, the 2018 inaugural titlist, to 15 points in the third quarter and just 12 in the fourth while coming through with a 35-point total to recover from an 82-99 beating by Binan on August 20 and climb to 19-3 in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 29-team tournament.
Barely ahead, 60-61, Binan unloaded 13 points through Pamboy Raymundo and Jeric James Pido against just three by Davao to seal its fifth straight win and rise to 16-8, keeping its distance from Paranaque which jumped to 15-9.
Raymundo posted 21 points, spiked by 5 triples, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals to earn the Daily Fantasy best player honors as Binan inched closer to Batangas, which dropped to 17-8.
Veteran Marc Pingris supported Raymundo with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks and so did Carlo Lastimosa with 10 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
Davao got 12 points each from Keith Agovida and Kenneth Ighalo and 10 points each from Kurt Lojera and Chris Lalata, who grabbed 9 rebounds.
Nueva Ecija, which trails only Pampanga (23-1) and San Juan (22-1) in the North Division as well as the overall standings drew 13 points from John Wilson, all in the second half, 12 points from Robby Celiz, and 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks from Will McAloney.
Batangas drew 15 points from Levi Hernandez and 11 from MJ Dela Virgen.
Paranaque, with all of its 15 players scoring, pulled Negros down to 12-14 with the Muscovados hanging on to the eighth and last playoff slot in the South Division.
Joshua Gallano posted 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, while John Uduba had a triple-double of 10 points, 10 assists and 20 rebounds for the Patriots, who ruled the boards, 74-35.
Other Patriots who delivered were John Anthony Umali with 14 points plus 5 rebounds, Kristan Hernandez with 12 points plus 9 rebounds, Jielo Razon with 11 points, 6 rebounds plus 4 assists, and JR Olegario and Paolo Castro with 10 points each.
The MPBL goes to the Paco Arena in Manila on Thursday with games pitting Mindoro against Muntinlupa at 4 p.m., Iloilo against Pangasinan at 6 p.m. and Valenzuela against Quezon City at 8 p.m.
