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| Mark Cruz strikes hard for the Gensan Warriors. MPBL |
MANILA—The Gensan Warriors clobbered the Manila Batang Quiapo, 118-71, on Tuesday to rev up their drive in the SportsPlus MPBL 2026 Season at the One Arena Cainta in Rizal Province.
With six Warriors carding double figures, Gensan surged beyond reach, 111-61, and raised its record to 12-1 in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
The Bulacan Kuyas trounced the Negros Hacienderos in the second game, while the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys thwarted the Mindoro Tamaraws, 79-69, in the nightcap.
Mindoro bundled nine points to threaten at 76-78, but Ilagan Isabela, through Miguel Ona, answered with an 11-point binge to secure the wire-to-wire win, its seventh against five losses.
Ona finished with 15 points and 2 rebounds to clinch the SportsPlus best player honors over Allen Mina, with 15 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds, homegrown TJ Felebrico with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists, and Jayboy Solis, with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Tamaraws fell to the lower half of the standings with a 5-6 slate as only JJ Caspe and RJ Ramirez found their rhythm with 22 and 14 points, respectively.
Mark Cruz paced Gensan with 18 points, all from triples, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, followed by JM Versoza, who had 17 points, 13 in the second quarter where Gensan pulled away, 52-33, and 4 rebounds, and Marwin Dionisio, who pooled 12 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
They were supported by Nelo Santos, with 13 points and 4 rebounds, Joshua Moralejo, with 12 points, 6 assists and 2 rebounds, and Karl Gloria, with 10 points.
The Warriors dominated the boards, 61-35, and exploited this advantage to score more on second chances, 22-4, and fast breaks, 37-14.
Manila, which tumbled to 1-11, drew 19 points from Mark Doligon, and 17 points each from Joe Gomez De Liano and John Ashley Faa.
Trailing, 32-42, at the break, Bulacan banked on Jonathan Medina and Airohn Acop to seize control and pull away, 59-43, en route to a 4-7 tally.
Jeremy Cruz led the Kuyas with 17 points, followed by Mart James Barrera with 12, Acop with 12, and Medina with 11.
Negros tumbled to 1-9 as Reymar Caduyac settled for 11 points, followed by Rey Ygot and Brandrey Bienes with 10 each.
Caloocan tackles San Juan
The MPBL returns to the Caloocan Sports Complex on Wednesday, featuring the game between pacesetter Caloocan and powerhouse San Juan at 8 p.m.
Caloocan, powered by recruits Kymani Ladi, Kean Baclaan, Eric Camson, Dom Escobar and Jeff Manday, is unbeaten after 11 starts, while San Juan, led by Michael Phillips, Harold Alarcon, AC Soberano, Gerry Abadiano, James Kwekuteye and Orlan Wamar, is at fifth place with an 8-1 slate.
Other games pit Cebu against Paranaque at 4 p.m., and Pasay against Valenzuela at 6 p.m.
