By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Valenzuela Darkhorse went full throttle in the second half to rout the Negros Hacienderos, 85-67, and gain traction in the SportsPlus MPBL 2026 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum on Thursday, April 30.

Barely ahead, 39-37, at the break, Valenzuela got the push from Shaq Alanes, Lester Reyes and Jay Collado to pull away, 67-48, after three quarters en route to its second straight win after back-to-back losses in the two-division, 28-team tournament.

Alanes tallied 14 points, laced by three triples, five rebounds and three assists to edge JR Olegario, with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds, and Angelo Obuyes, with 14 points and three rebounds, for the SportsPlus best player honors.

Geremy Robinson, Jr. also shone for the Darkhorse with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals, and so did Lester Reyes with eight points, highlighted by two triples.

With Alanes hitting 3-of-4 and Reyes going 2-for-2, the Darkhorse converted 9-of-20 shots from long distance for a 45 percent accuracy.

“We’re just following the system of Coach [Estong Ballesteros],” said Alanes, former star of the Lyceum Pirates.

“He wants us to stay hungry. We’re just helping each other out,” he added.

Negros suffered its third straight defeat as only Jan Formento, who scored 18 points, had four assists, three rebounds and three steals, while Carl Joshua Alattica, who contributed 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocks, struck back./ASC, WDJ