Camarines-Iloilo, Laguna-Caloocan in PCAP Wednesday

MANILA, Philippines – The Camarines Soaring Eagles hope to take a huge step in their pursuit of a championship when they battle with the Iloilo Kisela Knights in the PCAP-SMC-Ayala Land Premier Cup, Wednesday, September 22.

The Soaring Eagles, without GM Mark Paragua, have won their first two matches of the conference with Ellan Asuela taking over Board 1 and Robert Suelo climbing into Board 2.

They haven’t been their pulverizing best as their two wins have been close matches — 13-8 over Cebu, and 12.5-8.5 against Cordova. They sit at fifth spot in the Southern division with only 25.5 points, 22 points behind pace setter Negros and 46.5 points behind second place Iloilo.

The Kisela Knights, second conference champions, will be a stern test of their title resolve. The two sides clash in the first game of the Wednesday double header.

In the second set of matches for the night, two Northern Division powers, the Laguna Heroes and the Caloocan LoadManna Knights, face off.

Laguna totes a 2-1 record while Caloocan is shockingly with a 1-2 slate. 

The Heroes lost their first match of the conference to the San Juan Predators but bounced back to win their next two. Caloocan on the other hand was stunned by Caloocan on opening day then felled by the Predators in the second playdate.

In other key matches for night, the resurgent Rizal Batch Towers, who finished fifth in the All-Filipino Cup but tumbled out of play-off contention to 10th spot in the Wesley So Cup, are currently 2-1 in this third conference. They will have their hands full against the Heroes who are expected to play with their full line-up.

The Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates battle the Lapu Lapu Naki Warriors in the Southern Division. Lapu Lapu has been reinforced by several players from Cordova in Bernadette Galas, Allan Pason, and Bryle Arellano. However, Lapu Lapu got shut out from any win on opening night.

Surigao added Lennon Hart Salgados and Aubrey Gallardo to their lineup for this conference.