The Manila Stars and the General Santos Warriors hurdled their respective rivals on Wednesday to boost their playoff drives in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Lakan Season at San Andres Sports Complex.
Powered by Chris Bitoon, Aris Dionisio and Gian Lloyd Abrigo, the Stars outsteadied Navotas Uni-Pak Sardines in the homestretch to prevail, 96-91, and stay close to pacesetter San Juan Knights in the North division of the 31-team MPBL founded by Sen. Manny Pacquiao.
The Warriors, on the other hand, banked on Juju Bautista and Pamboy Raymundo to subdue the Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors, 91-82, halting a two-game slide and rising to 11-4 in the South division where they occupy third spot behind the Davao Occidental Tigers (12-2) and the Bacoor Strikers (12-3).
Bautista, filling in for Mikey Williams, tallied 23 points and 5 rebounds, while Raymundo posted 14 points, 11 assists, plus 6 rebounds for coach Rich Alvarez.
The Realtors saw their three-win run broken despite the 23-point, 8-rebound effort of Jeron Teng and fell to 9-4 behind third-ranked Makati Super Crunch in the North.
Only the top 8 teams from each division will advance to the playoffs.
The Cebu City Sharks repelled Zamboanga Family’s Brand Sardines, 74-70, to snap a three-game skid and climb to 5-8.
Zamboanga, which will trade Reed Juntilla for Alvin Pasaol of the Bataan Risers, settled for an 8-8 slate, still among the top 8 South teams. Robin Rono scored 21 while Raffy Reyes added 18 for Zamboanga.
The MPBL travels to Iloilo City on Thursday with a doubleheader pitting Valenzuela against Mindoro at 6:30 p.m. and Pasay against Iloilo at 8:30 p.m.
