Caloocan scored the last four points in overtime to escape Mindoro, 91–88, on Saturday and retain the North Division top spot in the 2026 MPBL Season at the One Arena in Cainta, Rizal.
Caloocan bounced back from a 60–68 loss to San Juan last Wednesday and improved to 12–1, ahead of Abra Solid North (10–1) and San Juan (9–1) in the standings.
The Tamaraws led 88–87 after a triple from Bambam Gamalinda, but Chris Bitoon answered with a breakaway layup before Jeff Manday split his free throws to give the Batang Kankaloo a 90–88 edge with 21.3 seconds left.
Gamalinda then missed a potential game-winning triple from the corner. On the other end, Bitoon split his charities, missing the second with 5.4 seconds remaining. Mindoro’s JC Recto grabbed the rebound but threw an errant pass that was intercepted by Harvey Pagsanjan to seal the win for Caloocan.
Caloocan earlier held a 70–61 lead before Gamalinda and Joseph Sedurifa teamed up in a 15–5 run to put Mindoro ahead, 76–75. Recto later tied the game at 78-all with a drive with 9.8 seconds left, forcing overtime after Kymani Ladi missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer.
Manday led Caloocan with 18 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and three steals, earning Best Player honors over Ladi, who had 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Bitoon added 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while Jammer Jamito also finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Mindoro absorbed its third straight loss and dropped to 5–7 despite Gamalinda’s 35 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals; Sedurifa’s 23 points and four rebounds; and Recto’s 15 points and seven rebounds.
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In the first game, Biñan Tatak Gel extended its winning streak to seven after routing Zamboanga SiKat, 72–53.
Biñan pulled away early and stretched its lead to as much as 69–41 en route to its 10th win in 13 games, good for fourth place in the South Division behind Quezon Province (8–0), GenSan (12–1), and Batangas.
Nic Cabanero powered Biñan with 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals to earn Best Player honors over Michael Mabulac, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds, including 11 in the third quarter.
Zamboanga saw its three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 4–8 in the playoff race. Paeng Are led the team with 15 points, while Jhon Calisay added nine.
Rookies Forthsky Padrigao and Brandon Wilson were checked by the Biñan defense, with the former finishing with three points on six attempts with four assists, three steals, and three rebounds while the latter went 0-of-6 from the field for a point with four rebounds.
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In the second game, Batangas City Tanduay Athletics extended their winning streak with a dominant 119–92 victory over the Negros Hacienderos.
With six players finishing in double figures, the Athletics pulled away early, building a 54–20 cushion en route to their eighth straight win and a 10–2 record.
Rhinwill Yambing led Batangas with 23 points, including five triples, and two assists. He was followed by John Ambuldot (18 points, eight rebounds), Cedric Ablaza (16 points, four rebounds, three assists), Abdul Sawat (14 points, eight assists, five rebounds, three steals), Jhan Nermal (10 points, two rebounds, two assists), and Mark Niel Cruz (10 points, four rebounds, two assists).
Negros, which dropped to 1–10, was led by Michael Alvarez with 20 points, five rebounds, and two assists; Rey Ygot with 17 points, four assists, and two rebounds; Wilson Baltazar with 16 points, four assists, and two rebounds; and Achie Inigo with 13 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals.
