Rejuvenated CRMC Mustangs to test firepower in Siquijor tourney

CEBU, Philippines — The revitalized Cebu Roosevelt Memorial Colleges (CRMC) Mustangs will take on another level in their massive buildup for this year’s Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) season as they see action in the 2024 Lazi Open Basketball Tournament slated on May 5-11 in Lazi, Siquijor.

Hoping to reach the Final Four in their “Last Dance” in Cebu’s premiere inter-school athletic league, the Mustangs of coach Paul Alelu Flores has boosted their roster with four key additions namely Earl Laniton, Jericho Montecalvo, Jack Roa, and Robert Jansson.

Laniton suited up for the Bukidnon Cowboys, while Montecalvo donned the Iligan Archangels jersey in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) before going to the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors in the UAAP.

The 6-foot-4 Roa is a legitimate big man, while the six-footer Jansson is a Filipino-Swedish point guard.

They are expected to strengthen CRMC’s holdovers from the last CESAFI cage wars that include Paolo Dalumpines, Keaton Taburnal, Dale Otero, Jerome Arboiz, Jhay Castro, and Wesley Malazarte.

The Mustangs’ reloaded firepower will be further tested as they compete in the week-long Siquijor tilt that offers P50,000 to the champion.

Their ultimate goal, however, is to make it to the semifinals of the CESAFI Season 24 before bidding farewell to the league for good.

“Our goal is to crack the Top 4 in the upcoming CESAFI season,” said CRMC athletic director Marc Malazarte. “We addressed our concerns and weaknesses last season, which is to have legitimate big men and that’s what did in getting Montecalvo and Roa. With the addition of Laniton, we will have another scoring option and a reliable defender added to our rotation. And having Robert Jansson, we added a tall combo guard to hopefully back up our captain (Dalumpines).”

“We will give our all since this will be our Lance Dance with coach Alelu in the league,” added Malazarte, who is also the team manager of Mustangs. – EBV