Bulldogs, Red Lions to play against Cesafi teams in exhibition match in Bogo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu’s basketball fans in the north will be treated to a top-notch hardcourt tilt in the “Dodong Junie Invitational Basketball Tournament,” which kicks off on Feb. 26, 2023, at the Don Celestino Martinez Sports and Cultural Center in the City of Bogo, north Cebu.  

This is organized by former City of Bogo Mayor and well-known sports patron Celestino “Junie” Martinez Jr. as part of his birthday celebration. 

The invitational tournament, which is a series of exhibition games, features the National University (NU) Bulldogs of Manila’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the San Beda Red Lions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

These two top-notch collegiate teams will face each other in the one-day basketball exhibition tournament. 

These two Manila-based squads were supposedly scheduled to play against UV men’s team and the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters at the Cebu Coliseum as part of the Cebu City Charter Day Celebration to be organized by the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) Commissioner Lorenzo “Chao” Sy.

However, it was cancelled for unknown reasons.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.’s (Cesafi) University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Green Lancers takes on the Cesafi high school basketball runners-up, the City of Bogo Science and Arts Academy (CBSAA) Trailblazers. 

Also, Cesafi’s newest basketball team, the Cebu Roosevelt Memorial Colleges (CRMC), will introduce itself to Cebu’s basketball scene by taking on the University of San Carlos (USC). 

The Baby Green Lancers and the Trailblazers will provide the opening match action at 4:00 PM, followed by CRMC and the Warriors’ duel at 5:30 PM. 

San Beda and NU will be the main game at 7:00 PM.  

New Cesafi team 

According to Mark Malazarte, CRMC team manager, this will be their first time to play high-caliber basketball game as their way to introduce themselves before this year’s Cesafi season as a rookie team. 

Malazarte, who is also the team manager of the Trailblazers and the vaunted Consolacion Sarok Weavers, said that CRMC would be a team to reckon with in the upcoming Cesafi season.

This as their roster includes some players of the Sarok Weavers that finished as runners-up in last year’s Pilipinas Super League 21-Under tilt here in Cebu.

The team will be coached by the Sarok Weavers’ head coach Paul Alelu Flores. 

The team’s roster is comprised of former Sarok Weavers in Paulo Dalumpines, Keaton Taburnal, Wesley Malazarte, Kin Dayday, and Serge Alburo.

The rest of the team’s players are Jhay Castro, Jray Casinillo, James Gelig, Redjee Recimiento, Dale Otero, Jerome Arboiz, Vin Raneses, Jonathan Vanguardia, Kurte Almendras, Earl Laniton, Froiland Fernan, and Vince Yuson. Ticklets for the Feb. 26 exhibition matches are available at the venue.

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