Pasig opened overtime with an 8-point run and went to subdue Bacoor, 82-78, in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme on Monday at the Paco Arena.
As expected, Bataan trounced Marikina, 84-68, in the opener, while Valenzuela thwarted Quezon City, 90-74, in the nightcap.
Jason Melano and Carlo Lastimosa sparked that Pasig breakaway with back-to-back triples and was capped by a Jason Ballesteros dunk that paved the way for the Realtors’ 14th win against 6 losses in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 22-team tournament.
Bacood countered with a 10-5 salvo highlighted by three straight triples by Eric Acuna and Paolo Castro, who knocked in the last two, to threaten at 76-79 with 44 seconds to go.
Ryan Paule Costelo, continuing his regulation play’s brilliance for Pasig, canned two charities to seal the outcome, 81-76, only 12.6 seconds left.
Costelo posted 19 points and 3 rebounds, Lastimosa 17 points and 5 rebounds, Melano 12 points, 17 rebounds plus 7 assists, and Ballesteros 11 points and 10 rebounds.
After missing the first, made his second free throw to force overtime at 66.
Bacoor fell to 8-12 despite the 24-point effort of Paolo Castro, the 11-point, 14-rebound output of Eric Acuna, the 11-point, 5-rebound contribution of Salvador Galit and the 10-point, 7-rebound line of Mark Montuano.
Bataan, powered by James Darwin Castro’s 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5-assists, climbed to 12-8. Marikina, which tumbled to 6-13, got 16 points and 6 rebounds from Dexter Mescallado.
Pat Cabahug and Ronjay Enrile spearheaded Valenzuela’s offense with 17 and 16 points, respectively, while high-flyer Jaymar Gimpayan tallied 13 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Quezon City dropped to 8-11 as only Marlon Monte, with 12 points, Adrian Celada, with 11, and Genmar Bragais, with 10, scored in twin digits.
The MPBL goes to the Muntinlupa Sports Complex with another triple-bill on Tuesday. Zamboanga tackles Mindoro at 5 p.m., followed by the GenSan-Laguna clash at 7 p.m. and the Muntinlupa-Caloocan collision at 9 p.m.
