The jerseys of the 10 teams of the Architects + Engineers Basketball Club 5th Corporate Cup presented after the press conference. Mars G. Alison
CEBU CITY, Philippine — The Architects + Engineers Basketball Club 5th Corporate Cup will kickoff Saturday, February 22, 2020, this time at their new home, the newly minted basketball gym of Benedicto College at the North Reclamation Area near Robinson’s Galleria.
From six teams at its first edition five years ago, 10 teams will now be vying for the title starting tomorrow right after the opening ceremonies which will be highlighted with the selection of the Best Muse.
Defending champion Island Paints is back and will be campaigning to retain its title, but this time the team will be manned by members of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) Cebu. Last season, its players were from UAP Sugbo.
The other teams manned by architects are Cebu Homes and Builders (UAP Metro Cebu Chapter); Architectural Interior Source (UAP Sugbu); and Buildrite of UAP Lapu-Lapu.
Teams comprised of Civil Engineers are Phoenix Building System; EGS; and KS&E Reliabuild.
Teams Paragsa Consultancy and EVC Consultany will be comprised of Mechanical Engineers while Cebu Metallic Epoxy will have Computer Engineers.
According to club president, Engineer Edgar Watin, the Corporate Cup, is an avenue for all those in the construction industry to gather as one group.
“We look forward to making this a bigger event and more fun for everyone,” said Watin during the press conference of the tournament held at The Neighborhood Cafe in Banawa, this city.
Because they now have 10 teams competing, the tournament would now follow a single round robin format with only the top eight (8) teams advancing to the quarterfinal round, said Architect Paolo Alberto, tournament vice president.
The quarterfinals will be a twice-to-beat advantage while the semifinals and finals will be knockout games.
A stricter uniform policy will also be implemented for the fifth edition. No uniform, either upper or lower, will mean no play.
The tournament will be adopting the FIBA rules of 2018 with one exception, that is the players can call a timeout.
All teams will play every Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
In cases of forfeiture, the team will be given a 10-minute grace period to complete its lineup. If unsuccessful, they will have to pay a penalty fee to cover-up for expenses such as payment for the gym, referees and stats, among others.
No payment means the team cannot play in their next game.
Tournament commissioner Jax Bautista said the games would be aired live on Cebu Sports Live with realtime stats to be flashed on screen.
Bautista, who was grateful for the club for entrusting him to be its commissioner, said this would be the first league that would have this kind of coverage.
He also said that this was his way of helping uplift Cebu basketball.
The opening ceremonies will be at 5 p.m. to be followed by the start of the games./dbs