MANILA – Basilan Viva Portmasters nailed its maiden win in the 2025 MPBL Season with an 82-80 overtime escape against Valenzuela Classic Dynacast on Thursday night at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Down 75-76 with under a minute left in the extension period, Gab Dagangon scored on a layup followed by two free throws from Arwind Santos and a triple from Dagangon to surge the Portmasters ahead at 82-76 with 35 seconds left.
The Dynacast made their last push courtesy of four free throws from Jan Formento to cut the deficit to 80-82 with eight seconds left in the contest before he missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
Dagangon finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists and one steal to be named Player of the Game as the Portmasters notched their first win in three outings.
“‘Yung tiwala lang ng coaches ang pinanghawakan ko. Ibinigay ko lang din ‘yung 100 percent ko,” Dagangon said in a post-game interview. “Kailangan na din naming manalo kasi galing kami sa (dalawang sunod na) talo.”
“Overall, team effort naman itong panalo na ito and hindi rin kami bumigay sa dulo,” he added. “Hindi rin puwedeng easy easy lang sa mga teams dito sa MPBL, kailangan talaga bawa’t game paghandaan namin.”
Jeff Viernes led the way for Basilan with 16 points, including four three-point conversions, while Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Santos contributed 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Negrense Formento top-scored for Valenzuela City with a career-high of 27 points to go with four rebounds and three assists, while John Ray Alabanza added a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds as they dropped to a 1-2 record.
Meanwhile, 1Bataan Risers (1-2) notched its first victory of the season as it toppled Cebu Classic (1-2), 79-69. Yves Sazon finished with 12 points to be named Player of the Game for the Risers./PN
BOX SCORE:
BASILAN 82 – Viernes 16, Dagangon 15, Al-Hussaini 14, Ar. Santos 13, Ad. Santos 8, Cruz 6, Cabagnot 3, Joson 3, Tempra 2, Calo 2, Concepcion 0.
VALENZUELA 80 – Formento 27, Alabanza 11, Neypes 8, Ongteco 7, Monje 7, Umali 7, Gesalem 6, Lo 4, Rios 3, Lao 0, Alvarez 0.
Quarterscores: 26-24, 42-37, 54-52, 82-80.
