HESED Gabo delivers, lifting the Gensan Warriors to an 83-79 win over the Valenzuela Darkhorse in the MPBL 2026 Season late Saturday. PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of MPBL
HOOPS

Warriors foil Darkhorse, gain share of MPBL lead

DT

The Gensan Warriors repelled the Valenzuela Darkhorse's repeated assaults in the fourth quarter to prevail, 83-79, and share the lead in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) 2026 Season at the One Arena Cainta in Rizal Province.

Marwin Dionisio, Adi Santos and Joshua Fontanilla joined forces to counter Valenzuela's three-time takeover of the front seat, the last at 79-78 following a triple by Jay Collado.

The Darkhorse couldn't score after that, however, while Santos made three of four charities and Fontanilla scored on a follow-up to hand the Warriors their sixth straight win, the same as Caloocan Batang Kankaloo, in the round-robin elimination phase of the 28-team tournament.

Val Acuna tallied 18 points and two rebounds, while Hesed Gabo posted 13 points, five rebounds and two assists to clinch the SportsPlus Best Player honors.

Other Warriors who delivered were Adi Santos, with 10 points and three rebounds, Mark Cruz, with 10 points and three rebounds, and Joshua Fontanilla, with eight points, 11 rebounds and six assists.