Batangas clobbers Laguna for win No. 9

Ed Andaya

Jul 27

BATANGAS City Embassy Chill showed no mercy in a 96-55 massacre of the Laguna Krah Asia Heroes on Saturday in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season presented by Xtreme at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The Athletics dominated the game throughout en route to their ninth straight win in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 22-team tournament.
Levi Hernandez came off the bench to lead Batangas with 17 points, including five triples, three assists and three rebounds, followed by Cedric Ablaza with 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
Other Athletics in double figures were John Ambulodto with 12 points and seven rebounds, Dawn Ochea with 12 points and five rebounds and Jeremy Cruz with 12 points, all in the fourth quarter.
With the outcome beyond doubt, Batangas Coach Cholo Villanueva had the luxury of shuffling 15 players, only two of whom failed to score.
Laguna, which suffered its sixth straight defeat tumbled to 1-7.
The Heroes got 14 points from Darius Duane Estrella and 10 from Paolo Pontejos.
Rizal Xentro Mall allowed Mindoro to come closer before unloading a lethal scoring run anchored on Alvin Capobres and Jolo Mendoza and pulling away, 100-82, in the nightcap.
Capobres poured nine of his 23 points while Mendoza posted eight of his 20 in the last 10 minutes as Rizal, which also drew 16 points from Troy Mallillin, improved to 5-3 under Coach Jonathan Banal.
Steered by playing coach Drake Santos, Mindoro moved within 74-80, only to be blitzed by Rizal, 20-5, in a three-minute span.
Dariel Bayla scored 20 for Mindoro, which hogged the cellar at 1-9.
The Tams also got 17 points from Tey Teodoro, 16 from Santos 16, 12 from Khen Osicos and 10 from Marlon John Espiritu.
The Marikina Shoemasters halted their seven-game slide with a 92-88 victory over the Caloocan Excellence in the opener.
Marikina's Yves Sason celebrated his birthday in style, scoring 22 points and grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds to earn best player honors.
Sason's effort was complemented by Antonio Lorenzo Joson, the league's leading scorer who posted 28 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, plus four rebounds and four assists; and Ryan Isaac Sual, who contributed 18 points.
Caloocan, which fell to 2-5, got 18 points from Damian Lasco, 14 from Ryusei Koga, 11 each from Jomar Santos and Jeffrey Ongteco and 10 from Jhygruz Laude.
The MPBL holds another triple-bill at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex with Bataan seeking to improve its 5-1 slate against Makati (1-9) at 7 p.m. Other games pit Pasig (4-3) against Imus (2-5) at 5 p.m. and San Juan (3-4) against Muntinlupa (2-2) at 9 p.m.