San Juan snapped Abra’s 13-month dominant run with a 66-58 victory in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) 2026 Season at the packed FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan on Saturday.
With the Weavers' closing in, 44-48, the Knights bunched eight points, four each by Harold Alarcon and James Kwekuteye, to pad their lead to 12, 56-44, and eventually tally their third win in four starts in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
The Weavers, the reigning MPBL national champions, threatened at 54-57 after a 10-1 run sparked by Mike Ayonayon's triple. Still, the Knights held the fort behind Alarcon, his fellow former University of the Philippines stars Reyland Torres and Garry Abadiano, and former Perpetual Help standout Patrick Sleat.
Alarcon wound up with eight points, six in the fourth quarter, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals, and was chosen the SportsPlus Best Player over Aldrech Ramos, with 12 points and nine rebounds, and James Kwekuteye, with 10 points, two rebounds and two steals.
Mike Phillips was limited to four points, but the former De La Salle University standout compensated with a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Weavers suffered their first loss after 48 straight wins dating back to March 2025, which included a 10-game sweep of the 2026 Preseason Invitational, and fell to 2-1.
A spate of 16 turnovers against only six for the Knights, who also ruled the offensive boards, 22-11, proved costly for the Weavers, who drew 18 points, six rebounds, and two assists from Filipino-American DJ Fenner, 12 points and three rebounds from Mike Ayonayon, and eight points from Encho Serrano.
Reigning Most Valuable Player Dave Ildefonso settled for four points and three rebounds after limping out due to injury in the last 5:29 seconds, while Fil-Am Tucker Molina was held scoreless by the tight San Juan defense.
Meanwhile, the Cebu Greats continued their see-saw run with a coast-to-coast 81-64 victory over the Bataan Risers in the second game.
Mark Meneses stood out with 31 points, 10 rebounds and four assists as Cebu rose to 3-2.
Brian Heruela supported with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Simon Camacho contributed eight points and nine rebounds.