The 40th season of the Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association will come off the wraps on Saturday, January 9, at the Jacinto Tiu Court in the Xavier School campus along Little Baguio, San Juan.

Xavier School, the tournament host, is the defending champion in both the aspirants and juniors divisions. The Golden Stallions are seeking their third straight juniors title behind Under-16 RP team member Jeron Teng, hotshot Jose "Jet" Manuel and bruising forward Kevin Lim.

Last year's runner-up, St. Jude Catholic School, will be bannered by do-everything frontliner Kim Lo, an MVP prospect.

Other schools in action are Uno High School, Grace Christian College, St. Stephen's High School, Chiang Kai Shek College and Hope Christian High School.

Silver-quick playmaker Isaac Lim is back to spearhead Uno's campaign. St. Stephen's, Grace Christian and Chiang Kai Shek are in a rebuilding mode with the loss of their key players to graduation.

Hope Christian is a title contender with the acquisition of several players from Far Eastern University.

Sponsors of the 2010 Tiong Liam competitions include Yakult, Outlast BatteryRusty Lopez, Fern-C, Puma, Converse, Burlingto, Freego Jeans, Davies Paint, MET Computer and Bow and Wow.