Basilan Steel leaned on the hot hands of John Wilson to trip Cebu, 80-75, on Monday and sustain its climb in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the San Jose Del Monte Sports Complex in Bulacan.
Flashing the form that made him the 2019 MVP, Wilson, 39, notched 33 points, spiked by 7 triples, 9 rebounds and 2 steals to earn the best player honors and power Basilan – now under a new management – to its third win in four starts in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
Wilson’s torrid shooting rubbed off on his teammates as the Steel converted 15 of 31 long-distance attempts for a high 48.4 percent accuracy that proved to be the big difference as the Cebu Greats made only 4 of 31 for a paltry 12.9 percent.
The Greats led at 50-40, only to be rattled by a 16-4 blast, with Wilson scoring 11, that shoved Basilan ahead, 56-54.
Cebu’s Brian Heruela drove in to tie the count for the last time as Gelo Loristo closed the third quarter with four straight points.
Basilan canned five straight triples to pad its lead to 74-66, which Cebu couldn’t overhaul for a 2-2 slate.
Wilson attributed his resurgent play to the extra workouts he had been doing for this season.
Gab Cometa supported Wilson with 9 points, followed by Casio with 8, including two triples.
Cebu drew 18 points and 6 rebounds from Mark Meneses, 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals from Dhon Reverente, and 9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals from Brian Heruela.
With Meneses pumping in 11 points and Wowie Escosio adding 6, Cebu took the half, 39-34.
