THE Abra Solid North Weavers battered the Davao Occidental Tigers, 92-56, on Thursday and secured the top spot in the North Division and overall standing of the Manny Pacquiao Presents MPBL 2025 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.
With Encho Serrano at the helm, the Weavers extended their hot streak to 25, tying the league record held by the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, and rising to 27-1, ahead of the Rice Vanguards (26-2) and the San Juan Knights (25-3) in the North Division and overall standing of the 30-team tournament.
Even if Abra drops its last game against Mindoro and Nueva Ecija prevails over Rizal, the Weavers would still emerge No. 1 owing to their 82-71 victory over the Rice Vanguards in their round-robin elimination phase encounter.
Serrano tallied 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals to clinch best honors over Dave Ildefonso with 10 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds, Mark Yee with 10 points plus 9 rebounds, and Mike Ayonayon with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Davao Occidental fell to 11-17, but will figure in the play-in between the ninth and 10th-ranked teams in the South.
The Tigers got 15 points from homegrown Jansher Salubre, and 12 points plus 8 rebounds from Justin Alano.
The Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters thwarted the Mindoro Tamaraws, 73-66, in the nightcap to wind up with a 20-9 slate and virtually clinch the second spot in the South Division behind Quezon Province (25-4).
Mark Niel Cruz tallied 15 points and 6 rebounds to lift Batangas with help from Levi Hernandez with 14 points, MJ Dela Virgen and Jong Baloria with 12 each, and Cedrick Ablaza with 10.
The Tamaraws, who drew 17 points from Ino Comboy and 10 each from Bam Gamalinda and Marion Magat, dropped to 15-13, good for the eighth spot in the South.
Pangasinan led throughout and trounced Imus Grumpy Joe, 108-72, in the opener to remain in line for the No. 4 spot in the North.
JP Maguliano turned hot with 18 points and 6 rebounds as the Heatwaves climbed to 20-8. They would catch up with the Pampanga Giant Lanterns (21-8) and the Pasay Voyagers (21-8) if they beat the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo (19-8) in their last game in the regular season.
Jay Collado supported Maguliano with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists; followed by Michael Mabulac with 12 points and 15 rebounds, Kriss Kelly Gurtiza with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, and Michael DiGregorio with 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Imus, which finished its stint at 9-20, got 20 points and 10 rebounds from Mark Doligon, 19 points and 4 assists from Ryusei Koga, and 10 points plus 5 rebounds from Carlos Sumabat Jr.
The MPBL returns to the Ynares Center Montalban on Saturday, with games pitting Quezon City against Basilan at 4 p.m., Caloocan against Sarangani at 6 p.m., and host Rizal Province against Nueva Ecija at 8 p.m.
