The San Juan Knights regained traction with a 78-71 victory over the Batangas City Tanduay Athletics on Wednesday in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 2026 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.

Orlan Wamar stepped up when needed, drilling in three three-pointers and setting up Terrence Fortea for another three with 30.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter that secured the Knights’ 18th win against three losses, 76-69, in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 26-team tournament.

San Juan trails defending champion Abra Solid North (20-1) and paces Caloocan (17-3) in the playoff chase in the North division.

Derailed by Biñan, 64-71, last Saturday, San Juan fought ferociously to snap Batangas’ eight-win run at home and relegate the Athletics (16-4) to second place behind Quezon Province (15-3) in the jostling for playoff spots in the South division.

Playing for 24 minutes and 36 seconds, Wamar chalked up 19 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals to clinch the SportsPlus Best Player honors over Michael Calisaan, who finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two steals, and Terrence Fortea, with 10 points and seven assists.

“We’re pumped up to recover from our last loss,” Wamar said.

“We want to close the eliminations on a winning note.”

Batangas drew 14 points each from Ino Comboy and Rhinwill Yambing, 13 from Jhan Nermal, and 10 each from Abdul Sawat and Cedrick Ablaza.

Meanwhile, The Rizal XentroMall Golden Coolers turned hot and kept the fire burning in the second half to subdue the Valenzuela City Darkhorse, 81-71, in the opener.

Rizal greeted the third quarter with a nine-point run sparked by Billy Robles and pulled away, 48-35, for its fifth straight win and a 15-7 record in the South division.

Ranked sixth, Rizal is assured of a playoff spot in the quarterfinals even if it drops its last three games and No. 7 Mindoro (12-10) sweeps its last three, as the Golden Coolers tamed the Tamaraws, 84-78, on 6 May.

Alwyn Alday tallied 12 points, six rebounds and five assists and was picked the Best Player over Laurenz Victoria, with 12 points and two rebounds, and Jolo Mendoza, with 11 points, two rebounds and two assists.

Rizal scored the game’s first nine points, but Valenzuela bundled 13 points, capped by JR Olegario’s triple, bridging the first and second quarters to seize control at 23-20.

The Golden Coolers, however, struck back through Alday and Coronel to regain the lead, 39-35, at halftime.

Valenzuela tumbled to 9-15, but is likely to make the play-in among teams ranked seventh to 10th after the North division eliminations.