MANILA, Philippines — Caloocan and Quezon Province extended their winning runs even as Abra continued its climb in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the One Arena Cainta in Rizal Province.
The Caloocan Batang Kankaloo subdued the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys, 100-91, in coast-to-coast fashion to notch their ninth straight win and grab the solo lead in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
The Quezon Huskers kept in step by besting the Valenzuela City Darkhorse, 95-84, in the second game and climbing to 6-0 in the race for playoff spots.
Defending champion Abra Solid North revved up its uphill drive with a 71-60 victory over Zamboanga SiKat in the nightcap, piling its fourth straight win for a 6-1 slate.
Powered by Jeff Manday, the Batang Kankaloo surged ahead, 31-9, then thwarted the Cowboys' repeated rallies to move ahead of the Gensan Warriors, who tote an 8-0 record.
Hitting 5 triples, Manday tallied all but two of his 23 points in the first half, before Kymani Ladi and Eric Camson took over in the second to pull the Cowboys down to their third straight defeat and a 5-4 record.
Manday also handed out 4 assists to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors over Ladi, who poured in 11 points in the last 20 minutes, highlighted by a one-handed and a two-handed dunks, to finish with 15 on top of 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
Jammer Jamito contributed 15 points and 7 rebounds, and Camson chipped in 11 points and 3 rebounds for Caloocan.
With Manday sinking 5 of 8, and Jielo Razon and Camson going 2 for 2, the Cowboys drilled in 11 of 23 triple tries for a high 47.8 percent conversion rate.
Jerie Pingoy found his mark in the second half, pumping in 17 of his 19 points, laced by 5 triples, and together with Arth Dela Cruz and Alex Cabagnot reduced the Cowboys' deficit to 9 at the end.
Cabagnot notched 16 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, while Donald Gumaru chalked up 11 points and 2 assists.
The Quezon Huskers, the reigning back-to-back South Division champions, banked on Cyrus Tabi, Judel Fuentes and Michael Canete to thwart the Valenzuela City Darkhorse, who suffered back-to-back losses and slid to 4-5.
Tabi tallied 22 points, spiked by three triples, 6 assists and 5 rebounds; Fuentes delivered 14 points, laced by four triples, 6 assists and 3 rebounds; and Canete, 13 points, laced by three triples, 10 rebounds and 2 assists.
Overall, the Huskers buried 13 of 26 triple attempts for a high 50 percent clip.
Valenzuela fell to 4-5 despite Shaquille Alanes' 17 points, Angelo Obuyes' 16, Geremy Robinson's 13, Jay Collado's 12, and JR Olegado's 11.
The Abra Weavers trailed by as many as 24-33 before finding their rhythm behind Mike Ayonayon, Jake Figueroa, DJ Ferrer and John Uduba in the third quarter, where they broke free, 63-53.
Figueroa finished with 18 points and 3 rebounds, Fenner with 13 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Ayonayon, with 13 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds.
Zamboanga, which tumbled to 1-7, drew 14 points each from John Arthur Calisay and Reggz Gabat.
The tournament resumes at the Novadeci Sports Complex in Novaliches, Quezon City, on Monday, featuring games between Manila and Cebu at 4 p.m., Gensan and Pasay at 6 p.m., and Quezon Province and Bulacan at 8 p.m. TMT