Paul Sanga pumped in a season-high 38 points to lift the Iloilo United Royals past the Parañaque Patriots, 81-75, in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 2026 Season on Wednesday at the One Arena Cainta in Rizal Province.
The lean veteran from Far Eastern University was deadly in the third quarter, drilling in six three-pointers, four in rapid succession, as he outscored the entire Parañaque bench, 23-15, and gave Iloilo a 63-52 spread heading to the last 10 minutes.
Trailing as far as 67-52, early in the fourth quarter, the Patriots tightened their defenses and held Iloilo to just two points, while scoring 16 in a span of 6:07 to briefly seize control at 70-69.
The United Royals won’t budge, and with Sanga and Richard Velchez at the helm, dropped a closing 12-5 run to end a five-game slide and notch their second win in 10 starts in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
Sanga canned a total of eight triples and had six rebounds and three assists to run away with the SportsPlus Best Player honors over Velchez, who had eight points, nine rebounds and two assists.
Sanga said all he wanted was to make an impact on his return after sustaining a hand injury in Iloilo’s 101-96 victory over Manila on 29 April at the Baliwag Star Arena.
James Sena also delivered for Iloilo, now being mentored by Bonnie Garcia, with seven points and 11 rebounds. Carl Sumalacay contributed seven points and six rebounds, Jasper Longalong added seven points and two rebounds, and Alexis Himan chipped in seven points.
Parañaque, which led 24-19, absorbed its 10th straight defeat as only Domark Matillano, with 19 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Joseph Terso, with 15 points, four assists and two rebounds, struck back.
