The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards continued their dominant run with a 109-79 trampling of Laguna Krah Asia Heroes on Tuesday in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) presented by Xtreme at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City.
Flaunting its star-studded roster, Nueva Ecija surged ahead by 36 points en route to its seventh straight win and the solo lead in the single round-robin elimination round of the 22-team tournament.
Pampanga and Bacoor also trounced their rivals to boost their drives.
Baring their sharpest form yet, the Pampanga Giant Lanterns, composed mostly of homegrown stars, clobbered the Caloocan Excellence, 95-78, and raised their record to 4-3.
The Bacoor Strikers struck from afar and crushed the Makati City MNL Kingpins, 84-56, in the opener to climb to 2-2.
Playing on their home court for the first time, the Rice Vanguards of coach Jerson Cabiltes did not disappoint as they sealed the outcome, 87-51, even before the third quarter ended.
John Bryon Villarias led the Nueva Ecija scorers with 17 points, followed by homegrown Bobby Balucanag with 14, Will McAloney with 13 plus 9 rebounds, Hesed Gabo with 11 points and Renz Palma with 10 points plus 9 assists.
Laguna, which fell to 1-5, got 25 points and 11 rebounds from Virgilio Santos, 12 points from King Asinero, 11 from Sean Laban and 10 from Floyd Dedicatoria.
