MANILA, Philippines — The Rizal XentroMall Golden Coolers battered the Imus Yangkee, 102-85, in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the Paco Arena in Manila.
Led by Alwyn Alday and Jake Gaspay, Rizal cruised to its 16th win in 24 starts in the round-robin elimination phase, finishing sixth and becoming the last outright playoff qualifier in the South division of the 26-team tournament.
Alday tallied 21 points and 3 rebounds, while Gaspay notched 16 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors.
AJ Coronel contributed 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks, and JP Maguliano, with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Imus, which tumbled to 3-20, drew 16 points from JP Belencion, and 14 points each from Ian Pardo and Patrick Dale Beltran.
Quezon City downs Sarangani
The Quezon City Black Bulls subdued the Sarangani 10ACT Marlins, 107-95, in the first game to improve to 10-12 and displace Bataan at 8th place in the North Division.
MJ Joson was named best player after posting 20 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals for Quezon City. He was supported by homegrown Pat Buena, with 19 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds; Rey Publico, with 13 points and 9 rebounds; Kobe Monje, with 13 points and 6 rebounds; and Jessie Sumoda, with 11 points and 8 rebounds.
Sarangani, which fell to 3-20, got 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks from Leland Estacio; 16 points, 8 assists and 2 rebounds from Alex Desoyo; 15 points and 2 assists from Migs Pascual; 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists from Andrei Duremdes; and 12 points from JC Escalambre.
The tournament goes to the Quezon City District 2 Gymnasium on Tuesday, featuring games between Negros and Quezon Province at 5 p.m., and Bataan and Marikina at 7 p.m. TMT
