The Caloocan Batang Kankaloo pounded the Valenzuela City Darkhorse without letup and prevailed, 97-58, late Tuesday night to grab the solo lead in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
Exploiting their height and heft advantage, the Batang Kankaloo dominated the boards, 53-38, and converted this to more points in the paint, 46-24, and more second-chance points, 27-6, that shoved them to their eighth straight win in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
The Batang Kankaloo also applied constant pressure, forcing the Darkhorse to commit 18 turnovers that paved the way for more fastbreak points, 26-8, and a huge 90-48 spread with 5 minutes and 33 seconds left.
Kymani Ladi stood out for Caloocan with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, edging Jeff Manday, with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, for the SportsPlus best player honors.
Rommel Calahat contributed 11 points and 4 rebounds, Jammer Jamito 10 points and 6 rebounds, and Antonio Bonsubre 4 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks as the Batang Kankaloo moved ahead of the Gensan Warriors (7-0) and gained distance from the Quezon Huskets (5-0).
Valenzuela fell to 4-4 as only Jay Collado struck back with 13 points and 6 rebounds.
Cebu sustained its climb with a 96-77 beating of Zamboanga SiKat in the opener, while Quezon City regained traction with a 96-87 victory over Ilagan Isabela in the second game.
The Greats bundled 14 points, courtesy of Cebuano legend Dondon Hontiveros’ two triples and Jonathan Gesalem’s back-to-back 3s, to break free, 38-27, en route to their fourth straight win and a 6-2 record.
Joining forces with Hontiveros and Gesalem was Mark Meneses, who posted 19 points, highlighted by a one-handed slam. He also plucked down 11 rebounds and completed two steals, followed by Wowie Escosio with 15 points and 5 rebounds, Paul Desiderio with 13 points and 2 rebounds, and Simon Camacho with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists.
It was Brian Heruela, however, who emerged the SportsPlus best player after piling four points, 15 assists, seven rebounds and two steals for Cebu.
The 48-year-old Hontiveros finished with seven pointss, three rebounds and three asists, while his 23-year-old son, Ice, chipped in seven markers.
Zamboanga absorbed its fourth straight loss and dropped to 1-6 despite Paeng Are’s 21-point, 9-rebound, 4-assist effort.
Spearheaded by Ryan Costelo, the Quezon City Black Bulls stormed ahead, 61-34, before coasting to their fifth win in eight starts, the same as the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys, following back-to-back losses.
Costelo wound up with 17 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds, followed by Clark Derige, with 15 points and 9 rebounds, Brian Rosalin, with 14 points and 8 rebounds, and ML Joson, with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Cowboys drew 17 points and 4 rebounds from JP Cauilan, 13 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists from Arth Dela Cruz, 13 points and 5 rebounds from Joseph Gabayni, and 10 points each from Jayboy Solis and Kyle Paranada.
