The Batangas City Tanduay Athletics met some resistance from the Meycauayan Marilao Gems before prevailing, 75-61, on Thursday in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.
The Gems moved closer, 61-68, with 3 minutes and 24 seconds left, but the Athletics blanked them the rest of the way while bunching 7 points to extend their hot streak to 10 and climb to 12-2 in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 27-team tournament.
Batangas trails Gensan (13-2) and paces Binan (12-3) and Cebu (12-3) in the race for playoff spots in the South division.
In other games, Zamboanga SiKat thwarted Basilan Steel’s final assault and won, 82-74, while Binan Tatak Gel started hot and never cooled to rout Bulacan, 95-75, in the opener.
Binan opened up with a 12-point spurt and never allowed the Bulacan Kuyas to come within a single-digit en route to its 9th straight win and a 12-3 record.
Batangas High flyer Rhinwill Yambing tallied 10 points, 4 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 steals to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors over Ino Comboy, with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and Mark Cruz, with 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Former Batangas mainstay MJ Dela Virgen pooled 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, but did not get enough support as Jayson Apolonio could only contribute 9 points and 6 rebounds for the Gems, who absorbed their third straight defeat and fell to 8-7.
