MPBL: San Juan wallops Bacolod as Binan, Marikina post wins

Nic Cabanero in action for Binan.

MPBL

MANILA, Philippines — The San Juan Knights went full throttle in the third quarter and battered the Bacolod Masskaras, 128-85, on Saturday to gain ground in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the Kamalig Sports Complex in Orion, Bataan.

Ahead, 61-50 at halftime, the Knights poured in 38 points against the Masskaras' 18 in the third to pull away for good and tally their fifth win against one loss in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.

San Juan trails Caloocan (7-0) in the North Division. GenSan (7-0) and Quezon Province (4-0) pace the South Division in the chase for playoff seats.

Orlan Wamar sparked San Juan's romp, pumping in all of his 18 points on six triples in the first half, before concentrating on feeding his teammates, which led to a season-high 46 assists.

The 5-foot-6 Wamar also issued 14 assists and grabbed two rebounds to clinch the Best Player honors over Patrick Sleat, who tallied 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals; and Terrence Fortea with 16 points and four assists.

JP Boral supported with 12 points and four rebounds, followed by AC Soberano with 10 points and two rebounds, Mike Phillips with nine points and 11 rebounds; and Jearico Nunez, with seven points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

Dominant on both boards, 63-33, the Knights frolicked inside with 66 points against 38 for the Masskaras.

Bacolod absorbed its seventh straight loss after an initial win despite John Kobe Dalisay's 26-point effort.

Binan downs Bataan

Binan, with Nic Cabanero at the helm, downed Bataan, 89-79, in the nightcap to rise to 5-3.

Cabanero, a former star of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, posted 21 points, six rebounds and two assists, followed by Carlo Lastimosa with 14 points and two rebounds.

Michael Mabulac, Marc Pingris and Pamboy Raymundo delivered 10 points each for Binan, which surged ahead at 77-64.

The Bataan Risers, who suffered their fourth straight loss after winning their first three, got 12 points from Hubert Cani; 11 each from Robbi Darang, Alfred Flores and Dante Paguio; and 10 from Yves Sazon.

Marikina thrashes Paranaque

The Marikina Shoemasters extended the Paranaque Patriots' woes with a wire-to-wire 94-69 victory in the opener.

Daquioag pumped in 15 points that padded Marikina's lead to 71-48 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

Hitting six of nine triple tries, Daquioag finished with 29 points and two rebounds to clinch the Best Player award over Louie Vigil, who tallied 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists; and Lander Canon with 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Paranaque drew 16 points, six rebounds and five assists from Marlon Monte; 13 points each from Alvin Pasaol and Paolo Castro; and 10 points from Ryusei Koga.

The tournament goes to the San Andres Sports Complex on Monday, featuring games between Iloilo and Quezon at 4 p.m.; Sarangani and Abra at 6 p.m.; and Imus and Pasig at 8 p.m. (Pool story)