Gems shine, send Voyagers crashing

The Meycauayan Marilao Gems fielded back their brightest stars in time to trip the Pasay Voyagers, 57-53, and force a Game 3 decider for a semifinal slot in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 2026 Season at the Meycauayan Sports Complex in Bulacan on Thursday.

After some respite, Agem Miranda and Jayson Apolonio returned in the last 3:33 and carried the Gems past the Voyagers, avenging their 64-66 defeat in the North Division series opener on 9 October.

The fourth-seeded Gems and the fifth-seeded Voyagers will tangle for the right to battle the top-ranked Abra Solid North Weavers in the semifinal round on Monday at the same venue.

With Pasay ahead, 49-42, Miranda followed up his own miss to score, and then added a layup against two charities by Voyager Lennard Santiago to put the Gems ahead, 52-51.

Kriss Kelly Gurtiza also converted two charities to push Pasay back on top, 53-52.

Apolonio then took over, making three free throws before missing the fourth, and Joshua Guiab added two more free throws in the last 48.8 seconds, when the Voyagers failed to score.

Miranda, former star of the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers, chalked up 14 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, three blocks and two assists to clinch the SportsPlus Best Player honors over Apolonio, who notched nine points, 13 rebounds and three steals.

Robin Nayve supported with 10 points and two rebounds, followed by Guiab with six points.

It was a see-saw contest from the start, with neither team ahead by more than four points, with 29 lead changes and 13 deadlocks.

Pasay got 13 points, three rebounds and three assists from Cyril Gonzales; 12 points and eight rebounds from Gurtiza; 10 points and three rebounds from Steve Nash Enriquez; and six points, seven rebounds and three blocks from Christian Fajarito.

Meanwhile, defending champion Abra Solid North warmed up early before cruising past Quezon City, 84-70, and advancing to the semifinal phase of the North Division.

Powered by Filipino-American DJ Fenner, the Abra Weavers pulled away after the first quarter, 24-9, and never looked back in sweeping the eight-seeded Black Bulls, 2--0.

Abra, the Philippines' lone representative in the East Asia Super League 2026-27 Season, routed Quezon City, 106-54, in Game 1.

Fenner, a former star of the Nevada Wolf Pack, poured 10 of his 13 points in that span and added 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals to capture the SportsPlus best player honors over Encho Serrano, who posted 12 points and 5 assists, and Tucker Molina, with 12 points and 4 rebounds.

Dave Ildefonso became the fastest player to reach the 1,000-point plateau with 1.5 seconds left in the third quarter, pegging the halftime count at 44-19.