SAYING it wanted to sustain the gains of 2017, the Millennium Basketball League welcomes a new season on April 20 at the Central Colleges of the Philippines gym in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
Now on its 19th year, the MBL hopes to fulfill its role of providing a venue for both aspiring young players hoping to make it to the big leagues and battle-tested veterans eager to stay in the game.
MBL chairnan Alex Wang said top collegiate/commercial teams, led by 2017 champions Colegio de San Lorenzo-V Hotel and 2016 titlist FEU-NRMF have been invited to see action again in the two-month tournament.
“We’re ready for another action-packed MBL season. We are looking forward to more teams, more games as we celebrate another year of MBL,” said Wang. “If 2017 was a good year for us, we hope 2018 will be even better.”
Last year, CdSL-V Hotel defeated FEU-NRMF, 87-85, in their winner-take-all showdown to capture the championship in its first year in the league.
Import Soulemane Chabi Yo and Jon Gabriel led the Blue Griffins of coach Boni Garcia and manager Jimi Lim to the title.
FEU-NRMF, handled by coach Pido Jarencio and manager Nino Reyes, settled for runner-honors.
The other invited teams are Philippine Christian University (Elvis Tolentino/Dr. Junifen Gauuan/Martha Ijiran); Diliman College (Rensy Bahar/Sen.Nikki Coseteng; Emilio Aguinaldo College (Ariel Sison/Dr. Jose Campos); Wang’s Ballclub-Asia Tech (Pablo Lucas/Shelalin Guden); Trace College (Nomar Isla/ Lilian Agoncillo); College of St. John Paul (Kiko Flores/ Cherry Mendoza); Caloocan Supremos (John Kallos/ Mayor Oca Malapitan) and Philippine Coast Guard ( Mark Acolicol/Adm. Elson Hermogino).