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The Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters and Zamboanga Master Sardines have consistently fought for contention in the South Division of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, finishing in the top six across all seasons in the league. From 2019 to 2022, both teams met in the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, all of their match-ups going the full three games, culminating in a division finals series in 2022. The rivalry previously featured the Zamboanga Valientes, the predecessor to the Master Sardines, as they first met Batangas City during their first meeting in 2018.

As of 2024, Batangas City currently leads the all-time series, 9–6.

History

2018: First meeting

The first meeting between the two teams first happened on November 27, 2018, at Batangas City Coliseum. The home team Batangas City Athletics won the game against Zamboanga (who were then under the Zamboanga Valientes banner) with a score of 104–93.

2019–2022: Playoff contention

The two teams first met in the playoffs in 2019. Despite being the sixth seed and having a losing record in the regular season, the now-Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines won game 1 of the series. However, they weren't able to complete the upset, as Batangas City won the next two games at home to advance to the division finals. They then met again in 2020, this time in the division quarterfinals. Once again, both teams tied the series after two games, but this time around, it was Zamboanga who came away with the win. As of 2023, it marked the only time in which Batangas City was eliminated before the last two rounds of the playoffs.

In 2022, both Batangas City and Zamboanga took up the top two positions in the South Division, setting up a potential South Division finals series. Both teams were able to reach the penultimate round. Game 1 of the series was held at the Mayor Vitaliano D. Agan Coliseum, making it the first game in which Zamboanga was the home team. Batangas City were able to win, 80–71. Zamboanga then tied the series in Batangas City's home grounds with a 63–53 victory of their own, forcing a game 3 in Zamboanga City. In game 3, Batangas City led by as much as 19 points, but Zamboanga were able to close the gap throughout the fourth quarter. Within the last minute, Jaycee Marcelino successfully made a shot that gave Zamboanga their first lead in the game with 40 seconds remaining. Zamboanga were able to hold on to clinch the South Division crown.

2023–present: Cooldown period

After their 2022 South Division finals series, they haven't met again in the playoffs since and only played in the regular season. In 2024, both teams tied in regular season record for the first time.

Annual finishes

NOTE: Preseason games are not included.

Game summaries

References

1. Leongson, Randolph B. (February 26, 2020). "Zamboanga stays calm in heated affair vs Batangas to reach MPBL semis". Spin.ph. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
2. Tupas, Cedelf P. (February 27, 2020). "Davao Occidental, Zamboanga forge MPBL South semis duel". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
3. "MPBL: Batangas advances to South Finals; Bacolod-Zamboanga goes to decider". Tiebreaker Times. November 13, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
4. Times, Tiebreaker (November 16, 2022). "MPBL: Jaycee Marcelino powers Zamboanga-FBS to South finals". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
5. "Zamboanga completes huge comeback to seal MPBL Finals date vs. Nueva Ecija". Dugout Philippines. December 2, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
6. "Squeaker sends Zamboanga to national finals". Philstar.com. November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2024.

• Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League rivalries
• Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters
• Zamboanga Master Sardines