Quezon Huskers grab solo lead; Paranaque, Abra subdue rivals


At a glance

  • Quezon Province took the easy route toward the solo lead in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season elimination round on Friday, June 7, at the Caloocan Sports Complex.


Quezon Province took the easy route toward the solo lead in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season elimination round on Friday, June 7, at the Caloocan Sports Complex.

DSC04623.JPG
Lucena City Mayor Mark Alcala shines for the Quezon Huskers. (MPBL Images)

The Quezon Huskers trounced the Bicolandia Oragons, 115-86, for their 10th straight win that pushed them past the San Juan Knights and the Nueva Ecija Vanguards, both with 9-0 cards, in the 29-team tournament.

Pitted against the lowly Oragons (0-12), Quezon Coach Eric Gonzales fielded all 15 Huskers at his disposal, only one of whom failed to score.

Lucena City Mayor Mark Alcala and Xyrus Torres led a balanced Huskers attack with 17 points each. Alcala added four assists and a rebound and was named the game's best player.

Gab Banal contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Domark Matillano added 10 points and five rebounds for the Huskers, who led by as far as 84-48.

Other games saw Abra rout Sarangani, 82-60, in the opener and Paranaque nip Caloocan, 73-69, in the nightcap.

Joshua Gallano bunched eight points to trigger a 15-point spurt that shoved the Paranaque Patriots ahead, 72-56, en route to their eighth win against four losses.

The Batang Kankaloo countered with a 10-point cluster but failed to reverse the outcome for a 6-3 card.

John Uduba tallied 14 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks to clinch best player honors over Gallano, who wound up with 14 points, six rebounds and two assists. Keith Pido also shone for the Patriots with 11 points, five assists and three rebounds.

Caloocan got 12 points each from Jeramer Cabanag and Paul Sanga.

The Abra Weavers, powered by Mark Tallo's 15 points, six assists, five steals, four rebounds and two blocks, chalked their fourth straight win for a 7-5 card.

John Lloyd Clemente and Michael Canete supported Tallo with 14 points each, and so did Roi Sumang with 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Sarangani dropped to 3-9 as only Ryan Isaac Sual and Charles Callano struck back with 16 and 10 points, respectively.

The MPBL visits the Nueva Ecija City Coliseum in Palayan City on Saturday. The games pit Muntinlupa against Bacolod at 4 p.m., Bataan against Imus at 6 p.m. and Zamboanga against Nueva Ecija at 8 p.m.