STREAKING Manila pounced on depleted Zamboanga and hacked out an 87-79 victory Tuesday in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season presented by Xtreme at the Paco Arena.
Banking on the solid plays of Ronnie Matias, Nat Consejo, Dan Sara, Marvin Lee and Joaquin Mariano, the Manila David Roxas Construction Stars pulled away at 81-65 en route to their fourth straight win and an even 5-5 slate in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 22-team tournament.
Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. trounced GenSan 80-69 to climb to 5-6.
High-flyer Jaymar Gimpayan led Valenzuela with 19 points and 7 boards, followed by Ronjay Buenafe with 13 points and Patrick Cabahug with 11.
GenSan, which skidded to 4-5, got 14 points from homegrown Chris Masaglang and 10 each from Nicko Panganiban and Niko Elorde.
Zamboanga Family’s Brand Sardines threatened for the last time at 77-83 on back-to-back triples by Reden Celda and Ralph Tansingco, but Consenjo completed a 3-point play to seal the outcome that handed Zamboanga its first loss in nine starts.
