The 41st season of the Freego Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association gets underway on Monday, December 6, with Chiang Kai Shek College taking on St. Stephen's High School in the lone game (3:30 p.m.) at the SSHS Gym.

Seven schools are participating in the three-month high school basketball tournament sponsored by Freego and supported by Orocan, Burlington, Molten, Healthy Options and XXXXXXX.

In addition to host Chiang Kai Shek College and St. Stephen's High School, other teams in action are Hope Christian High School, St. Jude Catholic School, Grace Christian High School, Uno High School and defending champion Xavier School.

This season's format calls for a double round-robin elimination phase, marking the first time since 2005 that such a format will be utilized. The top four teams after the elims will advance to the Final Four, where teams ranked Nos. 1 and 2 enjoy a twce-to-beat incentive overt Nos. 4 and 3, respectively.

The first-round games will be alternately held in the different schools. The entire second-round sked will be played at the CKSC Gym.

Xavier School, powered by PH Under-16 and Under-18 team member Jeron Teng, is seeking an unprecedented fourth straight Juniors Division title.

Expected to give the Golden Stallions a tough challenge are Hope Christian High School, which went unbeaten in topping three preseason tournaments behind cat-quick guard Janrey Garrido and big men Jessiery Pedrosa, Errol Villar and King Benemerito, and Chiang Kai Shek College, which is bannered by hotshot Paul Aduana.

Xavier School and St. Jude Catholic School, which is powered by streakshooting Jason Ligad, faced each other in the finals in each of the last two seasons.