PAMPANGA broke free in the 2nd quarter and sped away to a 95-77 victory over Marikina in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme on Monday at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
Barely ahead at 23-21, the Giant Lanterns clustered 10 points, 5 of them from Dominick Vera, and continued the onslaught till the end to extend their win streak to 8 and climb to 12-4 in the single round-robin elimination round of the 22-team tournament.
Homegrown Jayson Castro Apolonio led the Giant Lanterns with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, followed by Lawrence Mallari with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
A drive by Apolonio pushed Pampanga to its biggest spread, 91-62, with 3:21 to go before the Giant Lanterns relaxed a bit and allowed the Shoemasters to come a little bit closer.
Pampanga, being coached by Gov. Dennis Pineda, also got 11 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds from Christopher Lagrama, and 10 points each from Archie Concepcion and John Lorenz Capulong.
Marikina, which tumbled to 5-12, drew 25 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds from Antonio Lorenzo Joson, 12 points and 12 rebounds from Nhomer Gonzales and 11 points plus 4 rebounds from Raymond Casajeros.
Controlling the boards, 61-49, the Giant Lanterns poured 46 points inside the paint against only 28 for the Shoemasters.
