The Batangas City Tanduay Athletics met some resistance from the Meycauayan Marilao Gems before prevailing, 75-61, in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 2026 Season on Thursday at the Batangas City Coliseum.

The Gems moved closer, 61-68, with 3:24 left, but the Athletics blanked them the rest of the way while bunching eight points to extend their hot streak to 10 and climb to 12-2 in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 27-team tournament.

Batangas trails Gensan (13-2) and paces Biñan (12-3) and Cebu (12-3) in the race for playoff spots in the South division.

Biñan Tatak Gel, on the other hand, started hot and never cooled down to rout Bulacan, 95-75, in the opener.

Biñan opened up with a 12-point spurt and never allowed the Bulacan Kuyas to come within a single digit en route to its 9th straight win and a 12-3 record.

Batangas High flyer Rhinwill Yambing tallied 10 points, four rebounds, five blocks and three steals to clinch the SportsPlus Best Player honors over Ino Comboy, with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Mark Cruz, with 14 points and eight rebounds.