Pampanga won the battle of the titans as the Giant Lanterns overpowered the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, 76-64, on Saturday, in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the crammed Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Led again by the formidable duo of Justine Baltazar and Encho Serrano, the Giant Lanterns extended their unbeaten run to 16 in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
No less than MPBL founder and boxing icon Manny Pacquiao witnessed the showdown of the title favorites.
Bataan and Rizal XentroMall emerged as the winners of earlier games with James Castro making all of his four charities in the last 27 seconds as Bataan Risers nipped Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc., 80-76, while Rizal subdued Bacolod, 72-63.
The Rice Vanguards absorbed their second loss in 16 starts and are now aware that retaining the national title they handily clinched last year won’t be easy, especially with the rise of the Giant Lanterns, composed mostly of homegrown talents.
Pampanga clustered 10 points, capped by Baltazar’s three-point play and pulled away, 70-55, with only 4 minutes and 8 seconds left.
The 6-foot-8 Baltazar, the league’s scoring (18.6 points), rebounding (17.4) and blocking (1.7) leader, even exceeded these numbers with a 20-point, 24-rebound, 2-block performance laced with 4 steals that further bolstered his MVP drive.
Serrano contributed 15 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds for Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda, who is also the head coach of the Giant Lanterns. Other major contributors for Pampanga were Louie Sangalang with 13 points plus 7 rebounds and Kurt Reyson with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Nueva Ecija bunched nine points, spiked by Jonathan Uyloan’s 3-pointer, to seize control at halftime, 33-31, but yielded the lead back after the third quarter, 48-56.
The Rice Vanguards got 15 points from Roi Sumang, 13 points and 9 rebounds from Michael Juico and 10 points plus 5 rebounds from Will McAloney.
Fans started lining up at the venue as early as 11 a.m. Aware that thousands of fans couldn’t be accommodated inside, two giant LED screens were put up at the grandstand and at the side of the sports complex by the provincial government.
The Bataan Risers halted a five-game slide and climbed to 7-10 behind Dan Sara’s 16-point, 10-rebound, 6-assist, 5-steal effort, Yves Sazon’s 14-point, 3-rebound output and Robbi Darang’s 12-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist, 3-steal contribution.
