CALOOCAN took a 100-91 wire-to-wire win over Ilagan Isabela on Saturday to grab solo lead in the MPBL 2026 Season at the One Arena Cainta in Rizal Province.
Powered by Jeff Manday, the Batang Kankaloo surged ahead, 31-9, then thwarted the Cowboys' repeated rallies to notch their ninth straight win in as many games in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament.
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 best player honors over Ladi, who poured in 11 points in the last 20 minutes to finish with 15.
Jammer Jamito contributed 15 points while Camson added 11 points, which moved ahead of Gensan (8-0) and widened its gap over Quezon Province (5-0) in the chase for playoff slots.
Jerie Pingoy found his mark in the second half, pumping in 17 of his 19 points, laced by five triples, and together with Arth Dela Cruz and Alex Cabagnot reduced the Cowboys' deficit to in the end.
Cabagnot added 16 points in a losing effort.
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