MPBL: Pasay, GenSan, Caloocan book wins

MANILA, Philippines — The Pasay Voyagers found the shortcut in the third quarter and cruised past the Davao Occidental Tigers, 72-64, on Monday in the Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-MPBL 2025 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.

Ahead by just four points, the Voyagers, sparked by Felipe Chavez and Warren Bonifacio, clustered 14 points to pull away to stay, 48-30, with 3:27 to go in that period.

Cyrus Tabi took over in the second half and posted 17 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals to push Pasay to its 10th win against seven losses in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.

Chavez ended up with 16 points, two rebounds and two assists, while Bonifacio notched 11 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Voyagers, who converted 17-of-18 free throws for a lofty 94.4%.

Davao, which tumbled to 5-8, drew 16 points, eight rebounds and two assists from Keith Agovida; 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists from Jeff Comia; and 11 points plus four rebounds from University of Mindanao-Digos College's Jansher Salubre.

Other games saw the GenSan Warriors and the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo rout separate opponents in coast-to-coast fashion.

GenSan flaunted its power with a 99-45 drubbing of Manila Batang Quiapo in the opener, while Caloocan followed suit with a 93-47 thumping of Marikina.

All but one of the 15 Warriors fielded scored as they led throughout and as far as 35-89 in notching their fourth straight win and climbing to 10-6.

Mark Cruz spearheaded GenSan's assault with 27 points, three assists and two rebounds; Marwin Dionisio with 11 points, five rebounds and four assists; and Nico Elorde with 10 points.

CJ Gonzales, a 6-foot-4 homegrown, contributed 16 rebounds and eight points; while Gamaliel Evangelista Jr., a 6-foot-5 frontliner from the University of Santo Tomas, added 12 rebounds and eight points and as GenSan dominated the boards, 73-35.

Manila, with only Richard Albo striking back with 12 points and seven rebounds, absorbed its 14th straight defeat after an initial victory and is virtually out of contention for a playoff berth.

Powered by homegrown Joseph Manlangit and Rommel Calahat, Caloocan stormed ahead, 34-14, after the first quarter and never wavered to improve to 11-5.

Brian Enriquez and Jeff Manday joined the scoring fray as the Batang Kankaloo pulled down the Shoemasters to 3-13.

Manlangit wound up with 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists; Enriquez 15 points, two rebounds and two assists; Manday 13 points and two assists, and Calahat 12 points and two assists.

Marikina skidded to 3-13 as Karl Penano ended up as the top scorer with 10 points.

The MPBL returns to the Batangas City Coliseum on Tuesday with games pitting Sarangani against Bacolod at 4 p.m., Ilagan Isbaela against Mindoro at 6 p.m., and Batangas against Valenzuela at 8 p.m.