MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon Huskers blew past the Imus Yangkee, 121-73, on Saturday to keep their bid for the top playoff spot in the South division of the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the Ynares Center Montalban in Rizal Province.
Led by homegrown Rodel Gravera, the Huskers clustered 13 points to pull away at the half, 56-21, en route to a 19-4 record, moving closer to Binan Tatak Gel, which closed the round-robin elimination phase with a 21-4 slate.
If Quezon wins its last two games against Rizal XentroMall and Zamboanga SiKat, the Huskers, the reigning back-to-back South champions, would emerge the top qualifier due to the win-over-the-other tiebreaker.
John Abate posted 17 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, while Cholo Anonuevo, a 6-foot-5 former Far Eastern University Tamaraw, notched 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors.
Other Huskers who delivered in the coast-to-coast victory were Gravera, with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, and Clint Escamis, with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Hardly missing injured starting center Cedrick Manzano, the Huskers controlled the boards, 55-41, and converted this edge to more points in the paint, 76-32.
Also-ran Imus, which suffered its sixth straight defeat and tumbled to 3-21, drew 14 points from Patrick Dale Beltran, 11 from Noel Santos, and 10 each from Paul Christian Ferrer and Dylan Darbin.
The tournament returns to the Paco Arena on Monday, featuring games between Sarangani and Gensan at 3 p.m., Basilan and Meycauayan at 5 p.m., and Pasig and Quezon City at 7 p.m. TMT
