San Juan and Pasay revved up their drive in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) with hard-earned victories on Monday at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The San Juan Knights leaned on a jumper by Egie Boy Mojica with 13 seconds left to thwart the Bataan Risers, while the Pasay Voyagers rode on Tricky Peromingan’s fourth quarter contribution to beat Bacolod City of Smiles, 67-63, in the elimination round of the 29-team tournament.
The Makati OKBet Kings proved superior over the Oriental Mindoro Disiplinados and handily won, 77-60, in the opener to raise its record to 9-4.
Both the Voyagers, who won their fifth straight, and the Knights, who won their third straight, raised their records to 10-3, boosting their chances of advancing to the two-division playoffs.
A triple by Robbie Darang enabled Bataan to knot the count for the last time at 84. Mojica, however, came through with the clincher that pulled down the Risers to 6-8.
The 6-foot-3 Mojica, formerly of De La Salle-Dasmarinas and Adamson, finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds to complement the efforts of San Juan top scorers Orlan Wamar and Adrian Nocum with 17 points each.
Wamar added 9 assists and 8 rebounds, while Nocum finished with 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists for the Knights, who also drew 12 points from Zachary Huang.
Bataan got 18 points, 7 assists and 3 assists from Darang, 13 points from Jethro Sombero and 10 points from Jason Castro.
Keith Agovida led Makati to its fourth straight win with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, followed by Emman Calowith 13 points and 3 rebounds.
Mindoro, which tumbled to 2-12, got 16 points from Genmar Bragais, 12 points from Marvel Jimenez and 12 points plus 10 rebounds from homegrown Rodel Vaygan. Veteran Paulo Hubalde suited up for Mindoro for the first time and posted 7 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds.
Peromingan, a 6-foot-1 Cebuano guard greeted the fourth quarter with six straight points in an 8-point salvo that pushed Pasay ahead, 57-55.
The former Adamson Falcon added three points in a 7-4 closing run by Pasay that dealt Bacolod its ninth loss in 14 starts.
