UCBL kicks off Season 5 at Paco Arena

MANILA, Philippines — Neophyte Guang Ming College-Tagaytay debuts against Lyceum of the Philippines-Batangas to fire off the PG Flex Linoleum-Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) Season 5 presented by Vespa today at the Paco Arena in Manila.

Guang Ming, under the watch of former UP Maroon Mo Gingerich, takes centerstage at 12:30 p.m. after the simple opening rites at 11 a.m.

Philippine Christian U-Dasmariñas and University of Batangas collide at 2:15 p.m. in the UCBL’s much-awaited return amid the pandemic.

Also in the fray for UCBL, which will have president Franklin Evidente, PG Flex Linoleum owner Nelson Guevarra and MMDA’s Col. Bong Nebrija gracing the opener, are Olivarez College, Centro Escolar U and back-to-back reigning champion Diliman College.

But the spotlight is on youthful Guang Ming, which is tempering expectations in its baptism of fire according to sports director and seasoned mentor Bo Perasol.

“Umpisa pa lang ng programa namin, so managed lang ang expectations kasi puro regular recruits pa lang,” said Perasol, who’s concurrently serving as the program director of defending champion University of the Philippines in the UAAP.

The UCBL last staged a regular season in 2019 before diving back to play this summer in a preseason invitational that also features fancied teams from UAAP and NCAA for the first time.