The Quezon Huskers battered the Marikina Shoemasters, 93-67, on Thursday, June 18, to extend their hot run in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Dominant underneath and sharper from afar, the Huskers pulled away, 75-39, late in the third quarter en route to their ninth straight win in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
San Juan trounced Pasig, 114-79, in the opener, while Batangas dumped Sarangani, 111-64, in the second game to keep in step with Quezon, the only unscathed squad left nearing the halfway mark of the playoff race.
With Michael Canete, Cedric Manzano and Cyrus Tabi snagging 7 rebounds each, the Huskers posted a big 54-39 edge in rebounds, which they exploited to score more points in the paint, 58-26.
Canete added 15 points, 5 steals and 3 assists to clinch the SportsPlus best player over Manzano, who also had 13 points, 2 assists and 2 steals, and Jolo Manansala, who tallied 11 points plus 3 rebounds for the back-to-back South division champions.
Marikina, which skidded to 5-9, got 14 points and 3 rebounds from Jeepy Faundo, 11 points and 3 rebounds from Jason Strait, and 11 points plus 4 rebounds from RR Casajeros.
Batangas batters Sarangani
The Batangas City Tanduay Athletics blitzed to a 9-0 start, pulled away at halftime, 62-31, and never slowed down to notch their ninth consecutive win and improve to 11-2, trailing the Huskers and the Gensan Warriors (12-2).
Ced Ablaza paced the Athletics with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, followed by Jhan Nermal with 16 points and 2 rebounds, Kraniel Villoria with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and Ino Comboy with 10 points and 4 rebounds.
Exploiting their big 59-24 edge in rebounds, the Athletics led as far as 105-55 before coasting along.
Sarangani slipped to 1-12 as only Leland Estacio found his mark with 15 points on top of 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
San Juan trounces Pasig
Sinking 18 of 29 triple attempts for a remarkable 62.1 percent, the San Juan Knights led from the start and as far as 81-45 en route to their eighth straight win and a 10-1 record.
In contrast, Pasig canned only 2 of 16 for a dismal 12.5 percent, which pulled it down to 7-4.
Orlan Wamar and Reyland Torres presided over the Knights’ onslaught from long distance, both hitting perfect 3 of 3, followed by Royce Alforque, making 2 of 2, as San Juan caught up with Abra Solid North and stayed within sight of pacesetter Caloocan (13-1) in the North division.
The Knights also struck inside, making 29 of 42 field goals for 69 percent, against the Pasiguenos’ 29 of 59 for 49.2 percent.
Terrence Fortea tallied 14 points, laced with four triples, and 3 assists, and was chosen the best player over Michael Calisaan, with 14 points and 4 rebounds; Alforque, with 13 points, including San Juan’s last nine points, and 6 assists; and Torres, with 11 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
With the outcome beyond doubt, San Juan’s Mike Phillips need not assert his dominance inside and settled for 3 points, knocking in his lone triple try, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
The 6-foot-8 Phillips was included in Gilas Pilipinas’ final roster for Window 3 of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers against New Zealand on July 3 and Australia on July 6.
Former MPBL back-to-back MVP Justine Baltazar was also picked for the national team.
The MPBL goes to the Pola Gym in Oriental Mindoro on Saturday, featuring games between Binan and Meycauayan at 4 p.m., Gensan and Zamboanga at 6 p.m., and Mindoro and Valenzuela at 8 p.m.
