The San Juan Knights snapped the Abra Solid North Weavers’ 13-month dominant run with a 66-58 victory on Saturday in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the packed FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
With the Weavers’ closing in, 44-48, the Knights bunched eight points, four each by Harold Alarcon and James Kwekuteye, to pad their lead to 12 (56-44) and eventually tally their third win in four starts in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
The Weavers, the reigning MPBL national champions, threatened at 54-57 after a 10-1 run sparked by Mike Ayonayon’s triple.
Still, the Knights held the fort behind Alarcon, his fellow former University of the Philippines stars Reyland Torres and Garry Abadiano, and former Perpetual Help standout Patrick Sleat.
Alarcon wound up with 8 points, 6 in the fourth quarter, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, and was chosen the SportsPlus best player over Aldrech Ramos, with 12 points and 9 rebounds, and James Kwekuteye, with 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
In other games, the Cebu Greats continued their see-saw run with a coast-to-coast 81-64 victory over the Bataan Risers in the second game, while
Mark Meneses stood out with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists as Cebu rose to 3-2. Brian Heruela supported with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, and Simon Camacho contributed 8 points and 9 rebounds.
The Mindoro Tamaraws gored the dispirited Paranaque Patriots, 119-71, in the opener to level its slate at 2-2.
Powered by Bambam Gamalinda and Joseph Sedurifa, the Tamaraws pulled away at 66-40, then clustered 19 points bridging the third and fourth quarters to move beyond reach, 89-47.
Mike Phillips was limited to 4 points, but the former De La Salle standout compensated with a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Weavers suffered their first loss after 48 straight wins dating back to March 2025, which included a 10-game sweep of the 2026 Preseason Invitational, and fell to 2-1.
A spate of 16 turnovers against only six for the Knights, who also ruled the offensive boards, 22-11, proved costly for the Weavers, who drew 18 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists from Fil-Am DJ Fenner, 12 points and 3 rebounds from Mike Ayonayon, and 8 points from Encho Serrano.
Reigning MVP Dave Ildefonso settled for four points and 3 rebounds after limping out due to injury in the last 5 minutes and 29 seconds, while Fil-Am Tucker Molina was held scoreless by the tight San Juan defense.
