Pampanga beat Pasay 108-89 on Monday, June 26, 2023, at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan, extending its winning streak to 15 games in the OKBet-Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Season 5.
With the explosive pair of Encho Serrano and Justine Baltazar, Lanterns accumulated outstanding winnings. Serrano had 33 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, while Baltazar had 20 points, 21 rebounds, and eight assists in the 29-team tournament’s elimination round.
Pampanga defeated Rizal in their previous game, led by John Lloyd Clemente and Encho Serrano.
After regaining the lead in the first half, Pasay went more aggressively, outscoring Pampanga. The Voyagers were doing an excellent job of transitioning from defense to offense. Still, Pampanga’s height advantage and power were too much for them to overcome, and the Voyagers fell to 11-5.
Despite the Voyagers’ powerful offense, Encho Serano finishes the second quarter with a tie score of 43-43 because of his offensive rebound of 2 points.
Unfortunately, Laurenz couldn’t participate for the Voyagers in the fourth quarter owing to disqualification for a hard-fall foul with Encho Serrano. Also, Laurenz possibly won’t be able to play in the next game, which will be held on their home court.
Encho Serrano has been playing with Lanterns for three years and has been named Player of the Game three times. When asked about his hard fall in the game, he stated that he does not like to be hot-headed and is focused on the game, especially now that they are preparing for the upcoming encounter with Nueva Ecija.
Today, Tuesday, the MPBL visits the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig, with Bicol facing Oriental Mindoro at 4 p.m., GenSan facing Paranaque at 6 p.m., and Marikina facing Pasig at 8 p.m.
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