Batangas dumps Parañaque; Bacolod, Sarangani win

BATANGAS went on a rampage and drubbed Paranaque, 92-58, on Monday in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.

With Levi Hernandez and Juneric Baloria hitting the target, the Batangas City Embassy Chill Athletics pounded the Patriots till the end to raise their record to 9-2 in the elimination round of the two-division, 29team tournament. Hernandez fired a game-high 22 points, including four triples, while Baloria added 21, also with four triples, for the Athletics, who sped away from a 14-14 count after the first quarter.

Other Athletics who delivered were Jeckster Apinan with 9 points and 9 rebounds; Mark Justine Dela Virgen with 9 points, all from rainbow terri- tory; and Mark Cruz and CJ Isit with 8 points each.

Clobbered off the boards, 31-56, the Patriots dropped to 6-7 as only Joshua Gallano and Jayboy Solis were able to counter offensively with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Earlier, Valandre Chauca completed a three-point play with six seconds left to lift Bacolod City of Smiles past Muntinlupa, 73-72, and a 4-8 record.

It was Domark Matillano, however, who earned best player honors following a 20-point, 5-rebound output for Bacolod, which wasted a 42-25 spread but squeaked past Muntinlupa, which fell to 6-5.

Chauca, a former Adamson Falcon, wound up with 10 points and so did James Mangahas.

Paranaque got 19 points and 5 rebounds from Ian Melencio and 12 points from John Cedric Abis.

Sarangani dumped Quezon City Gaz N Go, 94-68, in the opener to level its slate at 6-6.

Led by Jeff Viernes, who tallied 19 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, Sarangani moved beyond reach at 88-59 and pulled down Quezon City to 3-10.

Viernes was supported by JC Escalambre with 16 points plus 5 rebounds, Alex Desoyo with 14 points, John Paul Cauilan with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Jefferson Comia with 11 points plus 5 rebounds.

Quezon City got 19 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block from Andrei Duremdes, son of MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes.

The MPBL goes to the Bataan People’s Center on May 30 with Valenzuela battling Makati at 4 p.m., Pasay tackling Manila at 6 p.m., and Pampanga colliding with Bataan at 8 p.m.

“I felt I couldn’t lose a game. I thought that I was able to win easier than I did, but a match can turn around in each game. But at the start of the match, I felt invincible,” he said.

Cobolli, making his Grand Slam debut, rallied briefly in the third set but was unable to take advantage of two break points in the sixth game.

Alcaraz then saw four match points slip away as the Italian hung on to level at 5-5.

However, the Spaniard wrapped up the tie on a fifth match point in the 12th game.

Next up for Alcaraz is a clash with Japan’s Taro Daniel for a place in the last 32.

New York-born Daniel, ranked 112, enjoyed his best Slam at the Australian Open in 2022 where he went to the third round from qualifying and defeated former world number one Andy Murray in the round of 64. His best run in Paris was a second round appearance in 2017.

Daniel has flourished on hard courts this year—reaching the quarter-finals in Acapulco and second round from qualifying at Indian Wells and Miami.

“I know the level of Taro, so it’s going to be a really tough second round, really tough match,” added Alcaraz.

“So I have to be ready for that, and I have to be prepared for a really tough one.” AFP