Bataan blitzed Manila in overtime, 109-102, while General Santos City overcame San Juan, 79-69, to join Pampanga in the winner’s circle late Tuesday in the OKbet, Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 4th Season at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The Risers rattled off 13 straight points to zoom ahead of the Stars, 105-92, in overtime and raise their record to 11-8 win-loss card in the single round robin eliminations of the 22-team tournament.
James Darwin Castro shone, firing 30 points, five rebounds and six assists while Kristoffer Torrado chipped in 22 markers, Jamil Gabawan had 16 points and eight rebounds and Arvie Bringas fired 14 points and 10 rebounds for Bataan.
Manila, which fell to 6-14, drew 23 points and eight assists from Dan Sara while homegrown Francis Camacho and Ronnie Matias delivered 23 and 19 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Warriors pulled away, 75-63, before preventing the Knights from mounting a rally to clinch their 13th win in 19 matches.
Christian Fajarito bannered the Warriors’ offense with 20 points and six rebounds against his former team, which skidded to 12-7 despite the 18-point, 12-rebound effort of Dexter Maiquez and 15-point, 10-rebound output of Michael Calisaan.
As expected, the Giant Lanterns dominated Makati to hand a 91-54 victory in the opener to improve to 13-5 card.
After suffering a 74-80 defeat from Nueva Ecija on Friday, the Lanterns struck back and led by as many as 40 points, 91-51, to seal the victory that buried Makati to a 1-17 card.
With the Lanterns in full control, coach Dennis Pineda had the luxury of shuffling his 15 players with Archie Concepcion, Alex Ramos and Michael Garcia submitting 16, 11 and 10 points, respectively.