Warriors rip Masskara, gain share of MPBL lead

The Gensan Warriors battered Bacolod Masskara, 108-77, and shared the lead in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 2026 Season at the Pasay Astrodome on Tuesday.

All 14 Warriors fielded scored as they led as far as 106-72 before cruising to win No. 4, the same as Caloocan Batang Kankaloo, in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.

Mark Cruz paced Gensan with 18 points, three rebounds and two assists, followed by Kyle Tolentino, with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists, Christopher Masaglang, with 12 points and five rebounds, and Anton Eusebio, with 10 points and three rebounds.

With Marwin Dionisio snaring nine rebounds, and Larry Rodriguez, Ryan Jay Arenal and CJ Gonzales grabbing six each, the Warriors ruled the boards, 55-40, and tallied more second chance points, 24-4.

Bacolod skidded to 1-3 despite the 20-point, nine-rebound, two-assist output of Hance Lleva, 11 points, six rebounds and three assists from Emman Galman, and 10 points, six rebounds and three assists from Dandelio Enrile.

The Quezon City Black Bulls rallied to beat the Marikina Shoemasters, 85-79, in the opener, while the Pasay Voyagers derailed the Bataan Risers, 93-78, in the nightcap.

Christian Fajarito drilled in a dagger three-pointer with 1:16 left to thwart the Risers’ comeback, 87-74, and level the Voyagers’ slate at 2-2.

It was Cyril Gonzales, however, who clinched the SportsPlus Best Player honors with 24 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals for Pasay. Lennard Santiago supported with 16 points and two rebounds, Steve Nash Enriquez, with 14 points and four assists, and Fajarito, with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Bataan, which tumbled to 3-1, got 17 points and five rebounds from Robbi Darang, 12 points and four rebounds from Hubert Cani, and 10 points, five rebounds and four assists from Edrian Ramirez.

The Voyagers’ hot shooting from afar proved to be decisive as they converted 11 of 22 triple tries for a high 50 percent clip against only 8 of 25 for the Risers or 32 percent.

Trailing, 55-65, early in the fourth quarter, the Black Bulls banked on Brian Rosalin and Jake Agoncillo to knot the count at 67 before taking control at 79-77, following a triple by Aeron Bagunu.

Marikina’s JR Alabanza canned two charities to force the last deadlock with 49 seconds left, but the Shoemasters went silent after that while the Black Bulls came through with six more, the last on two free throws each by Bagunu and Pat Buena.

The 6-foot-3 Agoncillo, a prized find from the University of Makati, posted 16 points, four rebounds and two steals, followed by MJ Joson, with 13 points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds, Rosalin with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Joeben Loria, with 10 points and six rebounds.