Manila tramples Rizal in MPBL Invitational

It did not take long for Manila to bounce back from their opening round matchup in the Chooks-to-Go Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, as they took down EMKAI-Rizal Xentro Mall, 89-59 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

It was a dominant encounter, as the Stars established an 24-11 lead after the first quarter after Dan Sara and Brent Paraiso each scoring eight points in the period.

Sara continued his burst in the second quarter to make it 47-24 at the half, with the lead ballooning to as high as 34 points.

The former Red Lion eventually finished with sixteen points. He noted afterwards, "We just set our composure. With Carlo Lastimosa out, we need to have the next man up para makuha namin yung goal namin today." Lastimosa missed the game due to a knee issue that remains day-to-day.

He adds, "We also had to make a statement."

Acknowledging their 77-80 defeat to Mindoro, head coach Cholo Villanueva reminded his team focus more on the positives. He shares, "It's a relatively young team and siguro everybody was excited yesterday. We had a chance to win yesterday but we were able to build momentum from yesterday."

He also adds, "It's a short tournament so we need to look at the film and see the mistakes that we are making. It's a different animal each game, so we have to study them and be ready to compete."

Paraiso would finish with thirteen points, while John Rey Villanueva contributing fourteen points, five rebounds, four assists and a couple of steals. Mark Neil Cruz netted a double-double with twelve points and thirteen rebounds.

Laurenz Victoria led the Golden Coolers with thirteen points, while Andrian Celada added ten points on 4/12 shooting.

Manila hopes to net back-to-back wins in the invitational when they face GenSan on Wednesday, 5PM.

The Scores:

Manila 89 - Sara 16, Villanueva 14, Paraiso 13, Cruz 12, Mangahas 11, Dyke 8, Ambulodto 6, Battaller 5, Asuncion 2, Importante 2, Baltazar 0, Lopez 0.

Rizal 59 - Victoria 13, Celada 10, Serrano 8, Benitez 6, Sunga 5, Acibar 5, Rios 4, Pretta 3, Dela Cruz 3, Melegrito 1, Vasallo 1, Saret 0.

Quarterscores: 24-11, 47-24, 58-50, 89-59.