MANILA, Philippines — Batangas, Meycauayan Marilao and Gensan hurdled their rivals on Friday and joined the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season pacesetters at the One Arena in Cainta, Rizal.
The Batangas City Tanduay Athletics led throughout in an 85-75 victory over the Bulacan Kuyas in the second game, while the Meycauayan Marilao Gems let Manila Batang Quiapo briefly take control before going full throttle and prevailing, 82-67, in the nightcap.
The Athletics and the Gems notched their second straight wins in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
They tied the Gensan Warriors, 87-70 conquerors of the Mindoro Tamaraws in the opener.
Also with 2-0 cards are powerhouses San Juan and Caloocan.
Powered by Anton Eusebio, a 6-foot-5 Filipino-Canadian from the College of St. Benilde Blazers, Gensan pulled away at 78-58 to stay.
Eusebio posted 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals to clinch the SportsPlus best player award over veteran Marwin Dionisio, Kyle Tolentino and Nelo Santos.
Dionisio notched 12 points and 3 rebounds, Tolentino 11 points, 7 rebounds and 2assists, and Santos 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Tamaraws led, 23-22, after the first quarter, but the Warriors clustered 12 points at the start of the second to break free, 32-23.
The Warriors played more cohesively, committing 13 turnovers against the Tamaraws' 20, and translated this advantage to more fastbreak points, 23-12.
Mindoro, which dropped to 1-1, got 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists from homegrown JC Recto, and 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists from veteran Bambam Gamalinda.
Ino Comboy led five Athletics in double figures with 16 points, spiked by 4 triples, 7 assists and 3 rebounds. High-flyer Rhinwill Yambing followed with 15 points, 2 assists and 2 steals, Jhan Nermal with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks, Ved Ablaza with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, and Kraniel Viloria with 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Athletics converted 11 of 25 triple attempts (44 percent) to compensate for their woeful 4 of 9 performance (44 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Kuyas tumbled to 1-1 despite Benedict Benedictos' 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, Mon Dizon's 16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, and Kenneth Castillo's 11 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals.
Manila bundled six points to grab the lead, 30-28, only to be sidetracked by an 11-point Meycauayan flurry, 9 by Agem Miranda, who finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals to earn his second straight best player award.
Migs Corteza supported with 18 points and 4 rebounds, and so did Robin Nayve with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
John Ashley Faa was the lone bright spot for Manila with 16 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds.
The tournament visits the Bataan People's Center in Balanga on Saturday, featuring games between Ilagan Isabela, and Basilan at 4 p.m., Zamboanga and Marikina at 6 p.m., and Valenzuela against Bataan at 8 p.m. TMT