P200T at stake in CBA hoopla

CEBU, Philippines - A total of P200,000 in cash prize is at stake for the top performing teams in the 2nd Cebu Basketball Association (CBA)-M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Cebu City Mayor's Cup set to kick off on December 18 at the Cebu Coliseum.

Six teams led by defending champion Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) Skyblazers will slug it out for the P100,000 champion's purse in the two-week joust backstopped by the city government of Cebu under the flagship of Mayor Michael L. Rama.

The second placer will pocket P50,000, while the third and fourth will take home P30,000 and P20,000, respectively.

The rest of the contending squads are CESAFI first runner-up Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras of coach Raul "Yayoy" D. Alcoseba, ThreeSixty Pharmacy -Online Training Camp of coach Mark Anthony Tallo, Rollway Customs Brokerage of coach Larry Villanil, Ave Maria Sanctuary Park of coach Edito Salacut, and Asian College of Technology (ACT) Cyber Knights of coach Titing Manalili.

The battle for supremacy will surely be exciting as ThreeSixty-Online will field in at least two players from De la Salle University to compliment its young stars in the mold of Mark Jayven Tallo, Neil James Sumayang and Mark Kong. Former UAAP standouts Ken Bono and Dino Daa are also included in their initial lineup.

Ave Maria Sanctuary Park, on the other hand, has tapped commercial veterans Alex Cainglet, Gerry Cavan, Danny Aying and Jojo Tangkay to man their offensive front, while Rollway Brokerage will rely on the likes of Enrico Llanto, Alano Caputolan, Luther Luke Justiniani, Earn Saguindel and Eric Zanoria to name a few.

Set to wind up on December 30, the tournament follows a single round robin format, with the top four teams advancing into the crossover semifinals.

The top two qualifiers will enjoy a twice-to-beat incentive over the lower ranked squads. The winners will then clash for the championship in a best-of-three series, while the losers will duke it out for third in a winner-take-all affair.

Tickets are priced at P30 for the upperbox, P50 for the lower box and P100 for ringside. - THE FREEMAN