FOLLOWING the successful staging of the Mayor Kim Lope A. Asis 1st Collegiate Invitational Basketball Tournament, Bayugan City is ready to embark on a bigger endeavor.
Bayugan City Mayor Kim Lope Asis said the city is interested in hosting the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL), which is reportedly scheduled in November.
“Bayuganons are basketball-loving people; that’s why we are really looking forward to hosting the PCCL, but we are ensuring that everything is in place because we want to prove that we are capable hosts,” said Asis.
The recent tournament in Bayugan attracted five collegiate teams with the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws winning the crown by beating the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in their championship game.
The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Recoletos wound up third, while the San Beda College-Team B Red Lions finished fourth.
The fifth competing team was the General Santos City-based Holy Trinity College Wildcats.
“The city is capable of hosting PCCL. We have a good gym, but we will further study if we can accommodate more teams,” Asis said.
The recent four-day event, which was spearheaded by tournament director Van Halen Parmis, was held at the air-conditioned Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium.
A total of P1.2 million was set aside for the tournament.
FEU pocketed the P200,000 top purse while UV went home with P150,000. USJ-R snatched P75,000; San Beda earned P75,000; while the Wildcats got P50,000.
Aside from the hefty cash prizes, Bayugan also shouldered the teams’ airfare, food and transportation expenses.
Apart from the basketball tournament, Bayugan also hosted motocross and billiards tournaments that served as highlights of its fiesta celebration.
“I want to thank all the teams that participated, and we want to thank all the people who supported us that made the event a resounding success,” said Asis.