The Quezon City Black Bulls continued their climb in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season with a 102-70 drubbing of the Iloilo United Royals on Friday, May 8, at the One Arena Cainta in Rizal Province.
The Black Bulls opened the game with a 14-point cluster and were never headed en route to their fourth straight win after dropping the first two in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
Tiny Ryan Costelo stood tall for Quezon City, pouring in 24 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, 6 assists and 2 rebounds, to earn the SportsPlus best player honors over Christian Jake Agoncillo, with 13 points and 5 rebounds.
Other Black Bulls who delivered were MJ Joson with 9 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, Kenz Rei Diokno, with 9 points and 3 assists, and Pat Buena, with 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Levi Hernandez was the lone bright spot for the United Royals, chalking up 36 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Hernandez scored all of Iloilo’s 23 points in the third quarter, enabling the United Royals to reduce the gap to 51-74.
The 5-foot-6 Costelo pumped in eight in a 10-point run that padded Quezon City’s lead to 96-65 and doomed Iloilo to its fifth defeat in six starts.
“We’re just pushing ourselves and we’re getting our chemistry,” said Costelo.
The Red Bulls connected on 18 of 30 field goal attempts and surged ahead, 50-31, at halftime.
The MPBL continues at the One Arena Cainta on Saturday, featuring games between Zamboanga and San Juan at 4 p.m., Ilagan Isabela and Manila Batang Quiapo at 6 p.m., and Valenzuela and Gensan at 8 p.m.
