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Cebu City, Philippines—The rejigged teams of the Teleperformance Vipers and Concentrix Converters will open up the action in the Tanduay Athletics E-Leagues for Basketball Season 15 on Sunday, July 21, 2019, at the City Sports Club-Cebu.
Teleperformance and the Concentrix — formerly Convergys — will be parading teams that underwent overhauls during the offseason. The Vipers only have six players from last season’s squad and have lost mainstays such as Gamaliel Bas and Germaine Guarisma. On the other hand, only half of the Converters’ team is returning.
Interestingly, standout Dean Junber Escalon, who is now with Concentrix, will be facing off against his former squad.
In the Evo League, the returning Executive Boutique/SVC Bulldogs will be seeking to bag its very first win in league history when they take on the debuting Amazon Aces.
Making a return after a six-year absence, the Bulldogs will attempt to end their infamous record of being the only team in the league to not have a win. EB joined the league from 2011-2013 and has lost all of its 24 games.
Also seeing action are the Optum Knights, which will be taking on the Results Newtown Spartans.
Presented by Tanduay Athletics, co-presented by City Sports Club-Cebu and backed by TUF and Citadines Cebu City, the tournament will have 26 teams, nine in the Elite Classic led by defending champions Sykes Pioneers. 17 teams are competing in the Evo League, five of which are new this season.
Teams in the Evo League will be playing in a single round-robin while Elite Classic teams will be playing a double round-robin. The top seven finishers at the end of the elimination round will advance to the quarterfinals. The eighth qualifier will be drawn via lottery.
The top four finishers will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage during the quarterfinals. The semifinals and the finals will be best-of-three affairs. /bmjo