The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards aim to duplicate their success in the elimination round when they tackle the Marikina Shoemasters on Saturday, October, 15 at the start of the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City.
Flaunting a star-studded roster, Nueva Ecija completed a 21-game sweep of the eliminations and is favored to extend its dominance when it battles Marikina at 9 p.m. in the opener of their best-of-three series.
In their first tussle, the Rice Vanguards of coach Jerson Cabiltes battered the Shoemasters, 99-77, and are again favored in the game to be shown over One PH (Ch. 1).
Pampanga also seeks a repeat over Bataan in the 5:30 p.m. opener also to be aired on One PH.
Unlike Nueva Ecija, however, Pampanga is bracing for another tough encounter as Bataan tested it to the hilt before yielding, 83-86, on September 12 at the Bren Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Despite playing on a neutral venue, the Pampanga Giant Lanterns, who finished fourth in the North division eliminations at 14-7, are slight picks over the Bataan Risers, who ended up fifth at 13-8.
The elimination round ended on Friday with Muntinlupa beating Imus, 94-84, to clinch the eighth and last quarterfinal slot in the South division at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
Other no-bearing matches saw Batangas clobber Quezon City, 85-60, and Sarangani subdue also-ran Caloocan, 81-76.
