Caloocan and Quezon Province extended their winning runs even as Abra continued its climb in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 2026 Season on Saturday at the One Arena Cainta in Rizal Province on Saturday.
The Batang Kankaloo subdued the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys, 100-91, in coast-to-coast fashion to notch their ninth straight win and grab the solo lead in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
The Huskers kept in step by besting the Valenzuela City Darkhorse, 95-84, in the second game and climbing to 6-0 in the race for playoff spots.
Defending champion Abra Solid North revved up its uphill drive with a 71-60 victory over Zamboanga SiKat in the nightcap, piling its fourth straight win for a 6-1 slate.
Powered by Jeff Manday, the Batang Kankaloo surged ahead, 31-9, then thwarted the Cowboys' repeated rallies to move ahead of the Gensan Warriors, who tote an 8-0 record.
Hitting five triples, Manday tallied all but two of his 23 points in the first half, before Kymani Ladi and Eric Camson took over in the second to pull the Cowboys down to their third straight defeat and a 5-4 record.
Manday also handed out four assists to clinch the SportsPlus Best Player honors over Ladi, who poured in 11 points in the last 20 minutes, highlighted by a one-handed and a two-handed dunk, to finish with 15 on top of four assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Jammer Jamito contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, and Camson chipped in 11 points and three rebounds for Caloocan.
With Manday sinking 5 of 8, and Jielo Razon and Camson going 2 for 2, the Cowboys drilled in 11 of 23 triple tries for a high 47.8 percent conversion rate.