Zamboanga Family’s Brand Sardines turned hot and spicy in the fourth quarter and routed Rizal XentroMall, 74-57, on Saturday in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the Bataan People’s Center in Balanga.
Spiced up by Jaycee Marcelino, Zamboanga bunched 11 points while holding Rizal scoreless in over 4 minutes to break away and tally its 12th win against 3 losses in the single round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 29-team tournament.
Showing why he’s the league’s reigning MVP, Marcelino posted a game-high 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists to earn best player honors for Zamboanga, last year’s South conference titlist and the 2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational champion.
Marcelino got ample support from his twin Jayvee, Andy Santos and Joseph Gabayni, who made 12 points each, and homegrown John Mahari, who added 7 plus a game-high 12 rebounds.
Jayvee Marcelino also grabbed 7 rebounds and issued 6 assists aside from canning back-to-back triples that buried Rizal to its 11 loss in 17 starts.
No Rizal player was able to score in twin digits with homegrown Troy Mallillin finishing with 9 plus 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
In other games, Iloilo subdued Bacolod, 80-73, and Imus foiled Bataan, 75-68.
The Iloilo United Royals crawled out of an 18-point hole (8-26) to snap a 5-game skid and catch up with its victim at 6-10.
Former San Beda star Justine Sanchez sparkled for Iloilo with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists and got help from fellow former Red Lion Tony Ynot, who chalked 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks for Coach Manu Inigo.
Bacolod got 18 points from Dom Matillano, 13 from John Cantimbuhan and 10 from Coy Alves.
Powered by Jaymar Gimpayan and Carlo Lastimosa, Imus SV Squad pulled away at 70-55 before coasting to its 6th win against 8 losses.
Gimpayan fired 19 points, snagged 21 rebounds, issued 5 assists and blocked 5 shots while Lastimosa contributed 16 points, including 3 triples.
Bataan, which fell to 6-9, got 17 points from James Castro, 12 from Yves Sazon and 10 from Jamil Gabawan.
The MPBL visits the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan on Monday with a triple pill pitting Manila against Valenzuela at 4 p.m., Pasay against Pampanga at 6 p.m., and Batangas against San Juan at 8 p.m.