SOUTH Cotabato squeaked past Quezon City, 65-62, on Friday to sustain its upward drive in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the Calasiao Sports Complex in Pangasinan.

The South Cotabato Warriors crawled out of a 15-point hole to seize control in the fourth quarter, 59-51, en route to their fifth straight win and an 8-3 record in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.

Mark Cruz tallied 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists while Christian Fajarito submitted a double-double 11 points plus 10 rebounds for the Warriors.

Quezon City TODA Aksyon got 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists from Rafael Are and 10 points from Josan Michael Nimes.

The Capitals had a chance to force overtime, but Are missed the first of two charities for a 62-63 count with 8.3 seconds to go.

Quezon City’s Enzo Joson then canned his two free throws for the final count that pulled down the Capitals to 4-6.

The Pangasinan Heatwaves halted their four-game slide with a 68-60 victory over the Parañaque Patriots in the nightcap.

Ed Daquiaog poured 11 of his 16 points and Hesed Gabo added five of his 16 in the fourth quarter to power Pangasinan to a 3-7 slate.

Ralph Robin was the other Heatwave in twin digit with 11.

Parañaque, hounded by poor free throw shooting, tumbled to 7-4.

The Patriots, who canned only 11 of 24 charities, got 13 points from JP Sarao, 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists from Jielo Razon and 9 points plus 13 rebounds from John Uduba.

In the opener, the Iloilo United Royals rallied to subdue Imus Agimat VA Drones, 95-82, and improve to 3-8.

Trailing, 37-45, the United Royals rallied behind Shaquille Imperial and CJ Cansino to seize control, 64-59, after three quarters.

Imperial wound up with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists while Cansino finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.

Chris Doliguez also shone for Iloilo with 19 points and 6 rebounds and so did homegrown Mark Nonoy with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Imus, which remained winless after 11 starts, got 26 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists from Luis Gaveriel Tapenio, 12 points from Mikko Gimpayan and 11 points from Junar Punzalan.

The MPBL goes to the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.

The games pit Mindoro against Caloocan at 4 p.m., Negros against Quezon at 6 p.m. and Pampanga against Sarangani at 8 p.m.

The scores:

First game

Iloilo (95) – Imperial 20, Doliguez 19, Nonoy 17, Casino 16, Rangel 7, Catapusan 5, Berjay 3, Credo 3, Madrigal 2, Diaz 2, Javelosa 1, Kapunan 0, De La Rosa 0, Capacio 0, Gomez 0.
Imus (82) – Tapenio 26, Gimpayan 12, Punzalan 11, Gonzales 8, Sumido 6, Enriquez 5, Camacho 5, Nicodemus 3, Kadir 2, Malimban 2, Luengo 1, Aniban 1, Nacino 0, Paraiso 0, Steinl 0.
Quarterscores: 25-17, 37-45, 64-59, 95-82.

Second game

South Cotabato (65) — M.Cruz 14, Fajarito 11, Dionisio 9, Joson 8, Jamito 6, Acuna 6, Dumapig 5, Elorde 3, J.Cruz 3, Rodriguez 0, Tolentino 0, Mahaling 0, Lantaya 0, Landicho 0, Apreku 0.
Quezon City (62) — R.Are 15, Nimes 10, Mosuqeda 8, Tauto-An 7, Sawat 6, Cauilan 5, Tibayan 3, M.Are 2, Roman 2, Ballesteros 2, Bienes 2, Cosari 0, Lo 0, Sera Josef 0, Reyes 0.
Quarterscores: 10-20, 28-39, 45-45, 65-62

Third game

Pangasinan (68) – Gabo 16, Daquioag 16, Robin 11, Tolentino 5, Meneses 5, Mabulac 5, Melencio 4, Caasi 2, Taganas 2, Miranda 2, Bautista 0, Dyke 0, Villamor 0, Gabriel 0, Tan 0.
Parañaque ( 60) — Sarao 13, Razon 10, Uduba 9, Pido 8, Gallano 6, Yee 6, Umali 3, Manalang 2, Castro 2, Villanueva 1, Olegario 0, Elorde 0, Vizcarra 0, Loyola 0.
Quarterscores: 21-9, 34-34, 48-45, 68-60.