MANILA showed it wasn’t just all-height.

The Manila SV Batang Sampaloc Stars banked on crack point guard Enzo Navarro to trounce Iloilo, 98-74, and sustain its climb in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the Villar Coliseum in Las Pinas.

The 5-foot-8 Navarro wound up with 22 points, spiked by 7 triples on 10 tries, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals to earn best player honors over 7-footer Greg Slaughter, 6-foot-7 Rabeh Al-Hussaini and 6-4 Carl Bryan Cruz and anchor the Stars to their fifth straight win and a 10-4 record in the round-robin elimination round of the 29-team tournament.

Cruz posted 14 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists while Slaughter finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Hussaini contributed 14 points and 8 rebounds for Manila, which ruled the boards, 58-42, and led by as far as 89-61.

The Iloilo United Royals saw their three-win run broken and tumbled to 5-8.

Iloilo got 18 points and 4 rebounds from Gwyne Capacio, 14 points plus 5 rebounds from Shaquille Imperial, and 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists from Clint Doliguez.

In earlier games, Caloocan leaned on Joel Lee Yu’s back-to-back layups to stun Batangas, 73-72, while South Cotabato subdued Mindoro, 107-91.
Batangas had a chance to reverse the outcome, but Jeckster Apinan missed a floater jumper with 2.6 left, allowing the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo to escape with their seventh win against four losses.

With Joseph Manlangit at the helm, Caloocan led by as many as 44-32 and by 67-63 midway through the fourth quarter. Manlangit finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, followed by Joco Tayongtong with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists and Paul Sanga with 11 points.

Batangas regained the lead, 72-71, on a triple by Juneric Baloria with 1 minute and 27 seconds to go, but Yu handed the Rum Masters their fourth loss in 14 starts.

The Rum Masters got 16 points from Kris Porter and 12 points, 14 rebounds, plus 4 assists from Cedric Ablaza.

Unlike Caloocan, South Cotabato had an easier time against Mindoro as Enzo Joson shone.

Joson paced the Warriors with 22 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds, followed by Jervy Cruz with 19 points and 6 rebounds, and Kyle Tolentino with 12 points and 6 rebounds.

The Tamaraws slid to 4-10 despite the 21-point, 7-assist, 6-rebound effort of Andres Desiderio and the 21-point, 6-rebound output of Ken Bono.

The scores:

First game

South Cotabato (107) –Joson 22, J.Cruz 19, Tolentino 12, Acuna 9, Jamito 8, Rodriguez 8, Fajarito 8, Dumapig 6, Landicho 5, Tan 4, Elorde 3, Dionisio 3, Mahaling 0, Lantaya 0, Apreku 0.
Mindoro (91) — Desiderio 21, Bono 21, Caspe 13, Rios 9, Teodoro 8, Reyes 6, Marquez 4, Ariar 4, Estrella 3, Aquino 0, Vaygan 0, Huerto 0, Pableo 0, Pena 0. Quarterscores: 32-24, 58-43, 79-65, 107-91.

Second game

Caloocan (73) — Manlangit 15, Tayongtong 13, Sanga 11, Flores 9, Lee Yu 7, Bonsubre 5, Calahat 4, Matias 4, Cervantes 3, Jeruta 2, Inigo 0, Palecia 0, Laude 0, Sumoda 0, Casin 0. Batangas (72) — Porter 16, Ablaze 12, Cruz 7, Dela Virgen 7, Baloria 7, Ochea 6, Apinan 5, Isit 4, Arim 4, Alarcon 2, Importante 2, Ramirez 0, Oliva 0, Ambulodto 0, Lunor 0. Quarterscores: 20-16, 42-32, 60-56, 73-72.

Third game

Manila (98) — Navarro 22, Cruz 14, Al-Hussaini 14, Slaughter 12, Javelona 9, Escandor 8, Jamon 6, J.Gonzaga 4, Tempra 2, Hanapi 2, Sena 2 Umali 2, Battller 1, T.Gonzaga 0, Flores 0. Iloilo (74) — Capacio 18, Imperial 14, Doliguez 12, Catapusan 6, Kapunan 5, Gomez 5, Nonoy 5, Santos 4, Madrigal 3, Javelosa 2, Berjay 0, De La Rosa 0, Beltran 0, Rangel 0, Diaz 0. Quarterscores: 17-18, 54-35, 78-58, 98-74.