11th SHABA caging opens Sunday

A record-field of 14 squads will be competing in this year's Sacred Heart Alumni Basketball Association (SHABA) Basketball Tournament at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit gymnasium tomorrow.

The event, which is now on its 11th edition, is expected to be more exciting and tougher as they hope to dethrone defending champion Batch'97 under Dunkin Donuts-Gillamac.

Batch'97, considered as the winningest team after Batch 90 players split up and mixed with other batches will have almost the same line-up except for one additional player in the line, thus, keeping them comfortable and determined to win another title.

Set to challenge the Dunkin Donuts-Gillamacs'97 are teams namely Borplus Pipes'91-92-93, Chivas Regal'96, Crazy Dragons'97'02, GEF/Koppel'98, Big Mao'87 and 95, a mixed batch under, Bimoli Cooking Oil and another one for Petron-Gothong 95, k1 Family KTV'2001, MTO'2005, Stanford Lab/Worldwide Steel, Kenya 2003 the returning Batch 1994 under Hundai Cebu and new-comer San Miguel 2006.

In a press conference at White Gold House yesterday, it was learned that this year's battle will follow a different format.

The event will follow a single round robin battle with the top eight advancing to the quarter-finals and the top four in to the semi-final round.

The final action will be a best-of-three series games.

Even the All-Star games of SHABA will also have different format this time, scrapping the Lux Oriens and Eagles division and instead will be uysing the batches, according to its president Milvic Chua.

Hermogenes Anciado remains the commissioner of the event. - Caecent O. No-ot with Mariegold Lebumfacil