Terrence Fortea helped San Juan regain its footing as the Knights defeated the Batangas City Tanduay Athletics, 78-71, on Wednesday at the Batangas City Coliseum in the 2026 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) season.
Fortea finished with 10 points and seven assists, while Orlan Wamar delivered when it mattered most, knocking down three triples and setting up Fortea for another three with 30.5 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
The win improved San Juan’s record to 18-3 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 26-team tournament.
San Juan remained behind defending champion Abra Solid North (20-1) and league-leading Caloocan (17-3) in the North Division playoff race.
Coming off a 71-64 loss to Biñan last Saturday, the Knights bounced back in emphatic fashion, snapping Batangas City’s eight-game winning streak at home and dropping the Athletics to 16-4. Batangas City also slipped to second place behind Quezon Province (15-3) in the South Division standings.
Wamar led San Juan with 19 points, three assists, two rebounds, and two steals in 24 minutes and 36 seconds. Michael Calisaan added 15 points, four rebounds, and two steals.
“We’re pumped up to recover from our last loss,” said Wamar. “We want to close the eliminations on a winning note.”
Batangas City drew 14 points apiece from Ino Comboy and Rhinwill Yambing, 13 from Jhan Nermal, and 10 each from Abdul Sawat and Cedrick Ablaza.
In the opening game, the Rizal XentroMall Golden Coolers extended their winning streak to five games after pulling away from the Valenzuela City Darkhorse, 81-71.
Rizal opened the third quarter with a nine-point run sparked by Billy Robles and took control, 48-35, en route to improving to 15-7 in the South Division.
The sixth-ranked Golden Coolers have already secured a playoff spot in the quarterfinals. Even if they lose their final three games and No. 7 Mindoro (12-10) sweeps its remaining three, Rizal would still advance after defeating the Tamaraws, 84-78, on May 6.
Alwyn Alday paced Rizal with 12 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Laurenz Victoria also scored 12 points and Jolo Mendoza contributed 11 points, two rebounds, and two assists.
Valenzuela raced to a 13-point run bridging the first and second quarters, capped by JR Olegario’s triple, to turn a 20-23 deficit into a 23-20 lead.
The Golden Coolers answered through Alday and Coronel to regain control and take a 39-35 advantage into halftime.
Valenzuela dropped to 9-15 but remains in contention for a play-in spot among teams ranked seventh to 10th following the North Division eliminations.
The Darkhorse was led by Geremy Robinson with 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Shaq Alanes added 12 points, eight assists, and four rebounds, while Lester Reyes chipped in 12 points and six rebounds.
The MPBL resumes on Thursday at the Caloocan Sports Complex, with Abra Solid North facing Quezon City at 3 p.m., Bulacan taking on Meycauayan Marilao at 5 p.m., and Pasig battling Caloocan at 7 p.m.
