Zamboanga SiKat banked on brothers Michael and Paeng Are to stun Caloocan, 81-76, on Thursday, March 5, in the 2026 MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Preseason Invitational at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
The older Michael poured in 13 of his 17 points, and Paeng added 7 of his 15 in the fourth quarter to negate Kean Baclaan’s 14-point explosion in the last five minutes for Caloocan and power Zamboanga to a 2-3 record in Group B of the 18-team tournament preceding the MPBL Eighth Season.
For their joint effort, the Are brothers were declared best players of the game, which saw the Batang Kankaloo race to a 65-55 spread through Inand Van Fornilos’ back-to-back triples and John Edcel Rojas’ back-to-back baskets with 5 minutes and 11 seconds left.
Baclaan, who towed Caloocan to within 73-77 following a triple, wound up with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists for the Batang Kankaloo, who tumbled to 5-2.
Caloocan also drew 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists from Dom Escobar, and 11 points plus 2 rebounds from Eric Camson.
Quezon Province crawled out of a deep pit to subdue Pasay, 74-62, in the second game and move on the verge of a playoff seat with a 5-1 slate.
Trailing, 13-30, the Quezon Huskers, with Judel Fuentes at the helm, clustered 13 points to move closer at the break, then wrested control midway of the third quarter, 40-37, behind the guns of Jolo Manansala, Cyrus Tabi and Diego Dario.
Manansala, formerly of the National University Bulldogs, chalked up 19 points and 7 rebounds to edge Fuentes, 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, for best player honors. Tabi finished with 10 points and Dario 6 for the reigning back-to-back MPBL South Division champion.
The Pasay Voyagers, sorely missing Christian Fajarito, dropped to 3-2 as only Kriss Gurtiza, with 14 points and 6 rebounds, and Steve Nash Enriquez, with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, found their bearing.
Muntinlupa drew double figures from five Cagers led by Jeric Soriano to beat Marikina, 87-79, and climb to 3-4 in the opener.
Soriano posted 14 points and 10 rebounds to emerge best player over MJ De la Virgen, who posted 14 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
Recruit Harvey Pagsanjan, formerly of the Pangasinan Heatwaves, contributed 11 points and 6 rebounds, Robin Nayve 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and Miguel Ives Corteza 10 points and 4 rebounds.
Marikina, which dropped to 1-6, got 13 points and 2 rebounds from homegrown Jomel Landayan, 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists from Jonathan Medina, 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals from Jacob Ubalde, and 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists from Deo Timajo.
The Preseason resumes at the Paco Arena on Saturday, with games featuring Gensan against Sarangani at 3 p.m., Mindoro against Quezon City at 5 p.m., and Zamboanga SiKat against Quezon Province at 7 p.m.
