THE San Juan Knights pulled away from the Bacolod Slashers after three quarters before cruising to an 83-77 victory and sharing second spot on Thursday in Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-MPBL 2025 Season at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Dexter Maiquez tallied 13 points and 7 rebounds to complement Orlan Wamar’s 12-point, 10-assist, 2-rebound, 2-steal effort as San Juan recovered from the 86-97 beating it absorbed from unbeaten Nueva Ecija (11-0) on May 17 and caught up with Abra at 10-1 in the race for playoff spots.
AC Soberano provided support with 11 points, Michael Calisaan 10 points, and Arvin Gamboa 10 points for the Knights, whose 74-54 spread was trimmed by the Tubo Slashers’ 9-point cluster built around Ira Bataller’s triple and two charities.
Bacolod stumbled to 2-8 despite Mark Ray Dubouzet’s 18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Chester Saldua’s 11 points and 11 rebounds, and PJ Intia’s 11 points and 7 rebounds.
The Pasay Voyagers returned to orbit with a wire-to-wire 107-80 drubbing of the Cebu Classic in the nightcap.
Sidetracked by back-to-back losses, the Voyagers, with homegrown Brian Hilario and Warren Bonifacio at the helm, vented their ire on the Classic, leading by as far as 102-72 en route to an 8-5 card.
Hilario posted 16 points and 4 rebounds, and Bonifacio 15 points and 2 rebounds for Pasay, which was further lifted by homegrown Damian Lasco’s 12 points and Jordan Rios’ 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Cebu tumbled to 4-8 despite Dennis Santos’ 21 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Daniel Manliguez’s 17 points and 4 rebounds, homegrown Mark Meneses’ 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, and homegrown Dolan Adlawan’s 10 points and 6 rebounds.
The Mindoro Tamaraws gored the Manila Batang Quiapo, 95-56, and climbed to 6-7.
Powered by Axel Inigo’s career-high 28 points, the Tamaraws led throughout and as far as 93-54.
Inigo, a former star guard of Far Eastern University, drilled 8 triples, grabbed 5 rebounds and handed 5 assists to help Mindoro recover from a 75-82 beating dealt by Cebu on May 16.
Other Tamaraws who delivered were Wendelino Comboy with 11 points, 6 assists and 2 rebounds; Jun Manzo with 10 points, spiked by 3 triples, 7 rebounds and 2 assists; Brandrey Bienes with 9 points and 8 rebounds; and homegrown Hanz Philip Maycong with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Manila, which absorbed its 11th straight defeat after an initial win, got 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists from John Ashley Faa, 10 points from Achie Inigo, Axel’s older brother, and Richard Albo with 10 points and 3 rebounds.
The MPBL returns to the Caloocan Sports Complex on Friday with games pitting Abra against Paranaque at 4 p.m., Zamboanga against Pampanga at 6 p.m., and Caloocan against Imus at 8 p.m.
