Cebu City Councilor Dondon Hontiveros and the rest of the organizers and competing teams of the upcoming Sinulog Cup 2023 Basketball Tournament pose for a group photo during a presser on Monday, January 16, 2023, at the Lloyds Coffee in Bonifacio District Cebu. CDN Digital photo | Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Eight top-notch commercial and collegiate basketball teams will compete in the Sinulog Cup 2023 Basketball Tournament, which kicks off on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, at the Cebu City Sports Institute gym in Barangay Sawang Calero.
The basketball tournament is co-organized by Cebu City Councilor Dondon Hontiveros, lawyer Jave Mike Aton, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ (SBP) Jojo Saso, Chooks-to-Go’s Jerry Abuyabor, and the Sinulog Foundation Inc.
The tournament is part of the events lined up for the Sinulog Festival.
There are four collegiate teams and four commercial teams competing for the P150,000 champion’s purse.
The tournament runs from January 18 to 23.
Hontiveros, who will also be suiting up for the DH25-Rock Uniform Solutions (RUS), told the media during the presser at the Lloyds Coffee in Bonifacio District Cebu on Monday that the tournament is a great way for ‘diamonds in the rough’ to showcase their talent.
The tournament is also a good tune up for Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) squads.
“Ako ni gi open up sa president sa Sinulog Foundation Inc. because we we’re asked to have at least an event during the Sinulog festivities. The last time Cebu City had was the time with coach Yayoy Alcoseba in 2018. When I was elected we had several basketball cups,” said Hontiveros during the presser.
“My main purpose in this league is to discover talents, naa man gyud ma discover. If you remember during my last year sa Gilas, didto na discover si Terrence Romeo, si Calvin Abueva, they were gems of the rough.”
The four collegiate teams are the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F) Panthers, and Benedicto College.
Meanwhile, the four commercial teams are the DH25-Rock Uniform Solutions (RUS), EGS, UNBL Stars of Bacolod CIty, and K&L Marketing of the City of Naga.
The eight teams will be divided into two brackets. Each bracket will have two collegiate and two commercial teams. The top two teams after the elimination round will then proceed to the crossover semifinal round.
The first three games will be held at the Cebu City Sports Institute on Wednesday, while the rest of the games including the championship will be at the Cebu Coliseum.
Tickets are priced at P50 for lower box, and P25 for upper box. The first game on Wednesday will start at 3 P.M.
/bmjo
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