The Quezon Huskers pulled away early and never wavered to beat the Mindoro Tamaraws, 81-60, on Saturday and move closer to the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season leaders at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Riding on Christian Pagaran, Michael Canete and Diego Dario, the Huskers clustered 12 points for a 28-15 spread after the first quarter, from which the Tamaraws could not recover.
Showing the form that made them the back-to-back South Division champions, the Huskers led as far as 78-54 before cruising to their second straight win in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
Pacesetters Caloocan, Bataan and Gensan tote 3-0 records.
Michael Canete notched 12 points and 12 rebounds to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors over Christian Pagaran, who carded 14 points and 3 rebounds, Jolo Manansala with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, and John Abate with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Mindoro, which entered last year’s playoffs, tumbled to 1-2 as only Marion Magat, with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists, and Joseph Sedurifa, with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, struck back.
The Huskers clobbered the Tamaraws off both boards, 55-29, and converted this advantage to more points in the paint, 32-12.
Debuting Pasig shook off a sluggish start to rout Paranaque, 76-56, in the nightcap.
Trailing at the half, 30-37, the Pasiguenos hit full throttle in the fourth quarter to lead by as many as 17 points, 72-55, and hand the Patriots their fourth straight defeat.
Warlo James Batac delivered the most for Pasig with 28 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, followed by Ahron Estacio with 15 points, 4 steals and 2 rebounds, and Jacob Galicia with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Patriots received 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists from Alvin Pasaol, 12 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals from Marlon Monte, and 11 points plus 4 assists from Ryusei Koga.
The Ilagan Isabela Cowboys outgunned the Imus Yangkees, 92-75, in the first game to raise their record to 2-1.
Veteran Alex Cabagnot wound up with 18 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds to emerge the best player at the expense of skipper Art Dela Cruz, who notched 17 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Yangkees put up a tough fight, threatening at 67-70 following a 7-point run triggered by Jaypee Belencion’s triple.
Donald Gumaru, however, retaliated with five straight points, followed by a triple from JP Cauilan to pad Ilagan Isabela’s lead, 78-67, with 6 minutes and 10 seconds left.
Gumaru tallied 12 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds, and Cauilan 13 points, highlighted by 3 triples, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
Quezon trounces Mindoro; Pasig, Ilagan Isabela win
