ENCHO Serrano celebrated his 26th birthday in style on Thursday, lifting the Abra Solid North Weavers past the San Juan Knights, 84-77, for the solo lead in Manny Pacquiao Presents MPBL 2025 Season at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
Serrano, former star of the De La Salle Green Archers, poured in 28 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, as Abra rallied from a 68-74 deficit and posted its 25th win against one loss in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team, two-division tournament.
The Weavers moved ahead of the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards (25-2) and relegated the Knights to the third spot in the North Division with a 25-3 slate.
The 6-foot Serrano, who added 3 assists, was particularly deadly in the latter half of the second quarter, where he poured in 12 points in a 15-point Abra run, including John Uduba’s triple, that decided the outcome, 83-74, with 25.2 seconds to go.
Dave Ildefonso supported Serrano with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, and so did Marwin Taywan with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
San Juan got 21 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists from Orlan Wamar, and 13 points plus 7 rebounds from Raul Soyud.
The Ilagan Isabela Cowboys hit target in the second half and beat the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo, 76-53, to finish their regulation campaign with a 15-14 record and the eighth spot in the North Division.
Terrence Tumalip struck hard the Cowboys, who surged ahead, 74-54, with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals; followed by Joshua Marcos with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, and Donald Gumaru with 10 points plus 2 assists.
Caloocan skidded to 18-8 and shared the fifth slot with Pangasinan and Pampanga in the North.
The Batang Kankaloo drew 15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals from Jeff Manday, but only Irven Palencia provided support with 10 points.
The Gensan Warriors battered the Bulacan Kuyas without letup en route to a 106-62 rout and a 17-11 record in the opener.
Gensan is at fifth spot in the South Division, behind Quezon Province (23-4), Batangas City (19-9), Rizal Xentromall (18-8) and Zamboanga SiKat (17-10).
Mark Cruz presided over the Warriors’ assault with 13 points plus 3 rebounds, followed by Kyle Tolentino with 12 points plus 5 rebounds, Larry Rodriguez with 12 points plus 3 assists, Anthony Bringas with 10 points plus 11 rebounds, and Felix Apreku with 10 points plus 9 rebounds.
Also-ran Bulacan tumbled to 3-25 with Samuel Peralta as the lone bright spot with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
The MPBL returns to the Orion Sports Complex on Friday, with games pitting Paranaque against Nueva Ecija at 4 p.m., Pampanga against Davao at 6 p.m., and host Bataan against Bacolod at 8 p.m.
