Zamboanga SiKat flaunted its strength in a wire-to-wire 128-74 demolition of Paranaque on Wednesday and shared fifth spot in Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-MPBL 2025 Season at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
With five players, led by Abdul Sawat, scoring in twin digits, Zamboanga stormed ahead 123-64 before cruising to its 15th win against 5 losses and catching up with reigning back-to-back titlist Pampanga in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
Nueva Ecija and Abra are tied at the top with 18-1 slates, followed by San Juan (17-1) and Quezon Province (15-3).
The 6-foot-4 Sawat posted 18 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds to clinch best player honors over James Sena with 15 points and 7 rebounds and Carl Bryan Cruz with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Other major contributors for Zamboanga were Alvin Capobres with 13 points and 2 rebounds, John Arthur Calisay with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, and Ichie Altamirano with 8 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds.
Exploiting their height advantage, the Zamboanguenos poured 70 points in the paint against 24 for the also-ran Patriots, who tumbled to 1-17.
Paranaque drew 19 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists from Kris Torrado, 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists from Wilson Baltazar, and 17 points from homegrown Paolo Castro.
Pasay gained ground with a 91-83 victory over Pasig in the nightcap of another triple-bill.
The Voyagers, who climbed to 13-8, were powered by Christian Fajarito’s 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, Jasper Salenga’s 18 points and 3 rebounds, and Marc Daniel Sangco’s 8 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds.
Pasig skidded to 7-12 despite Warlo James Batac’s 28 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds, Jacob Galicia’s 13 points and 6 rebounds, Chito Jaime’s 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals, and Jess Quilatan’s 10 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
The GenSan Warriors battered the Marikina Shoemasters, 101-72, in the opener.
With Kyle Tolentino at the helm, Gensan pulled away at 96-67 en route to a 13-7 slate.
The 6-foot-3 Tolentino, a former Letran Knight, posted 30 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals to earn best player honors over Marwin Dionisio with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, and Mark Cruz with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Marikina, which led at 18-15, dropped to 4-16 as only Deo Timajo struck back with 19 points, highlighted by 14 points in the fourth quarter, and 5 rebounds.
The MPBL visits the FilOil Flying V Centre on Thursday with games pitting Quezon against Bacolod at 4 p.m., Ilagan Isabela against Cebu at 6 p.m., and host San Juan against Manila at 8 p.m.
