Caloocan trounces Bulacan, Sarangani clobbers Manila

Caloocan Batang Kankaloo started strong and stood their ground a25 to trounce the listless Bulacan Kuyas, 70-58, on Tuesday in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
The Batang Kankaloo took a 25-10 spread and watched the Kuyas threaten at 46-43, before putting the finishing touches to their second straight win in the 29-team tournament.
Gabby Espinas and Reil Cervantes presided over Caloocan’s romp with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Espinas also posted 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while Cervantes added 6 rebounds.
Barely a shadow of the team that won its first three games, the Kuyas struggled offensively, finishing with only 21 points after halftime.
Bulacan got 14 points from Rence Luis Alcoriza, 10 from Buenaventura Raflores and 9 plus 11 rebounds from Jerick Nacpil.
Earlier, the Sarangani Marlins continued their recovery from an initial setback with an 81-64 conquest of the Manila Stars.
Jefferson Comina shone with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks as Sarangani tumbled to 2-1. He was supported by John Jordan Sta. Ana with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists and Alex Desoyo with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
Manila absorbed its third straight defeat despite the triple-double of Marcy Arellano, who accounted for 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Macky Acosta made 15 points and Regie Boy Basibas 11 for Manila, which got buried by a 15-point cluster from Sarangani and trailed by as far as 51-72 early in the fourth quarter.
MPBL Founder and CEO Manny Pacquiao watched the games to monitor the performance of the teams, particularly players suspected to be involved in game-fixing.
Boxing’s only 8-division world champion asked Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes to issue more yellow cards (warning) to under-performing players and warned that many of them will be booted out from the league after the Fifth Season.
The MPBL goes to the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex on Thursday with a triple-bill pitting Negros against GenSan at 4 p.m., Mindoro against Muntinlupa at 6 p.m. and Paranaque against Laguna at 8 p.m.

Caption: Reil Cervantes shines for Caloocan.