Valenzuela celebrated Dennis Santos' return with an 88-81 victory over Bacolod City of Smiles on Saturday, June 29, in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City.

The 6-foot-5 Santos fired 29 points, 23 in the first half, to lift the Valenzuela Classics to their 8th win in 16 starts in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.

Coming back from muscles injury, Santos also wound up with seven rebounds and two assists despite being used sparingly in the second half, where Valenzuela carried a built-in 56-41 advantage.

New acquisition Mark Montuano supported the wiry, springy forward with 18 points plus eight rebounds and veteran Paolo Hubalde with seven points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and three steals.

Bacolod, which fielded only 8 players, tumbled to 1-15 despite the 35-point, 10-rebound, 6-assist effort of Louie Vigil, the 12-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist output of Danny Marilao, and the 11-point, 3-rebound, 3-assist, 2-steal contribution of Tricky Dyn Peromingan.

With Santos drilling in five of 9 triple attempts, the Classics shot 37.5 percent from afar, way better than the Bacolenos' 7 of 25 for 28 percent.

The MPBL goes to the San Andres Sports Complex on Monday, July 1, with games pitting Bulacan against Iloilo at 4 p.m., Abra against Batangas at 6 p.m., and South Cotabato against Manila at 8 p.m.