THE Batangas City Tanduay Athletics dominated the boards and dumped the Bacolod Masskara, 111-78, to sustain their climb in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the One Arena Cainta in Rizal province.
Powered by John Ambulodto and Abdul Sawat, the Athletics outrebounded the Masskara, 64-28, exploiting this to score more points in the paint, 72-42, and second chances, 36-8, that paved the way for their fifth straight win in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
Following its wire-to-wire victory, Batangas climbed to 7-2, trailing Caloocan and GenSan, both 9-0, Quezon province (6-0), San Juan and Abra, both 6-1, and Pasig (5-1), and catching up with Cebu in the overall race for playoff spots.
Ambulodto posted 12 points, 15 rebounds and three assists to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors over Dawn Ochea, who tallied 18 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Other Athletics who delivered were Kraniel Viloria with 13 points and two rebounds; Rhinwil Yambing with 12 points and four rebounds; Mark Niel Cruz with 10 points, six rebounds and two assists; and Sawat, who chalked up six points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Bacolod slid to 2-8, negating Hance Lleva’s 18 points and five rebounds, Ian Melencio’s 15 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds, Emman Galman’s 14 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Ram Masqueriola’s 13 points, two assists and two blocks.
Meanwhile, the Meycauayan Marilao Gems leaned on Jayson Apolonio, Agem Miranda and Jimboy Pasturan to thwart the Bataan Risers, 75-69.
They fired five points each in the last three minutes and 57 seconds to frustrate the Risers, who took control at 63-60 after a seven-point run by Chris Javier and Chito Jayme.
Miranda was named best player with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists; followed by MJ Dela Virgen with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists; Apolonio with 11 points and three rebounds; and Felix Apreku with 13 rebounds, three points and two blocks.
Bataan, which absorbed its fifth straight defeat and tumbled to 3-5, got 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists from Javier; 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists from Jaime;11 points, five assists and two rebounds from Hubert Cani; and 10 points plus four rebounds from Jeff Santos. TMT
