Nueva Ecija, Caloocan and Basilan all prevailed on Saturday, but only the Starhorse Portmasters made headway in Manny Pacquiao Presents MPBL 2025 Season at the Ynares Center Montalban in Rizal Province.
The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards thwarted the Rizal Xentromall Golden Coolers, 79-67, in the nightcap to improve their record to 27-2, but settled for No. 2 in the North Division behind the Abra Weavers Solid North (27-1).
The Caloocan Batang Kankaloo eliminated the Sarangani Grippers, 93-79, in the second game and kept the seventh slot in the North with their 20-8 slate.
Basilan battered the Quezon City Galeries Taipans throughout before cruising to a 94-81 victory in the opener and jumping to the fourth spot in the South Division with an 18-11 card.
The Portmasters caught up with the Gensan Warriors, whom they beat (75-72) in May and relegated to No. 5. Thus, Basilan will have the homecourt advantage in their best-of-three playoff tussle starting on October 11, 2025.
Sherwin Concepcion led Basilan with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, followed by Jervy Cruz with 15 points plus 12 rebounds, Adi Santos with 13 points plus 4 assists, Arwind Santos with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, Alex Cabagnot with 11 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, and Renzo Navarro with 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Portmasters achieved their initial goal of making the playoffs set by team owner Jax Chua and co-owner Mayor Julz Hataman of Sumisip, Basilan.
Head coach Rich Alvarez and team manager Bernard Yang intend to use their break to better prepare for the Warriors.
Also-ran Quezon City tumbled to 7-21 despite Vincent Cunanan’s 14 points, Jeff Javillonar’s 10 points and 15 rebounds, and 12 points each from Jayson Puray, Nino Ibanez, and John Karlo Casino.
Caloocan banked on Paul Sanga’s 17 points, Jeff Manday’s 13 points, Joseph Manlangit’s 11 points and 12 rebounds, Rommel Calahat’s 12 points and 8 rebounds, and Paul Hendrix Casin’s 10 points to pull down Sarangani to 10-19 and gift Cebu (11-8) with the tenth and last play-in slot in the South.
Sarangani got 16 points and 11 rebounds from Coy Alves, 12 points and 7 rebounds each from Jeff Viernes and Orin Catacutan, and 13 points from Martin Gozum.
Nueva Ecija, the 2022 MPBL champion, was powered by Jaycee Marcelino with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists, and Jammer Jamito with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Rizal fell to 18-10, but remained No. 3 in the South. The Golden Coolers drew 21 points and 11 rebounds from Eric Camson, 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists from Philip Manalang, and 14 points, 7 steals and 3 assists from Alwyn Alday.
The MPBL goes to the Marikina Sports Center for the first time this season on Monday, with games pitting Davao against Quezon City at 4 p.m., Rizal against Bacolod at 6 p.m., and Marikina against San Juan at 8 p.m.
