Playoffs-bound Manila SV Batang Sampaloc clobbered Bacolod, 123-76, on Monday and boosted their bid for the fourth spot in the North Division of the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila.
With 14 players scoring, the Manila Stars cruised to their 18th win against 8 losses and moved beyond the reach of the Pasay Voyagers (17-10) in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
However, Caloocan (15-9) can still dislodge Manila if the Batang Kankaloo sweep their four remaining games and the Stars drop their last two assignments.
In case Manila, Pasay and Caloocan wound up with similar 18-9 slates, the Stars would advance as they have beaten both the Voyagers (90-87) and the Batang Kankaloo (69-66) in their elimination round encounters.
Exploiting his 7-foot frame, Greg Slaughter posted 21 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in just 19 minutes and 42 seconds of play to earn the Daily Fantasy best player honors over 6-foot-7 Rabeh Al-Hussaini with 17 points and 6 rebounds.
The top four qualifiers will have the homecourt edge in the best-of-three division playoffs.
Bacolod, which showed up with only 8 players, tumbled to a league-worst 1-26 card.
Nueva Ecija rallied to beat Abra, 81-78, and rise to 23-3.
Trailing, 57-67, the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards greeted the fourth quarter with a 13-1 tear to wrest control, then banked on Billy Robles and John Wilson to thwart the Weavers.
Abra fell to 15-10 despite Alfred Ryan Batino's 17-point, 12-rebound effort and Wendelino Comboy's 15 points.
The Valenzuela Classics dumped the Bicolandia Oragons, 98-54, in the opener for an even 13-13 slate and remain in playoff contention.
The MPBL goes to the Paco Arena on Tuesday ( with games pitting Caloocan against Bulacan at 4 p.m., Bataan against Iloilo at 6 p.m., and Binan against Marikina at 8 p.m.
