RP-Cebuana five vies in Jones Cup

After almost two months of intense training, the RP-Cebuana Lhuillier men’s basketball team plunges into action anew when it competes in the 26th William Jones Cup basketball championship on July 23-Aug. 2 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Spearheading the 12-man national team are SEA Games veterans Dennis Madrid, Celino Cruz, Ricky Calimag, Richard Melencio, Mark Magsumbol and Raloh Rivera. Also in the roster are Cebuano finds Eder John Sadua and Gerry Cavan and 6-9 Samigue Evan of Davao, Ephraim Torio and Jayson Tiongson of Baguio City and Don Rez Villamin.

Eman, Sadua, Cavan, Torio and Tiongson are products of "Tryout ng Bayan," the talent search and identification program of the Basketball Association of the Philippines held in cooperation with Cebuana Lhuillier, BAP’s foremost and biggest backer.

Dong Vergeire will handle the team with assistant coaches Boysie Zamar and Arsenio Dysangco. Also joining the team in the Taiwan trip are Jean Henri Lhuillier, head of delegation; Daniel Francisco, team manager; and Jose Miguel Jimenez, team leader.

The Filipinos are expected to have their hands full against eight other participating teams from Qatar, Japan, Russia, Korea All-Stars, New Zealand, Australia and host team Taiwan, which will be represented by the Taiwan Young Men’s Team. Teams are actually allowed to field in imports, but the RP team has decided to go All-Filipino while in Taiwan.