Welcome to the Official Website of the
MPG CORPORATE BASKETBALL LEAGUE
and the other corporate leagues (ILBA, Lopez Wellness, P & G, Petron, and Shell) managed by MPG Inc.

TEAMS

MCBL SEASON IN REVIEW

Last year, the 2007 MCBL 2nd Conference saw four first-time participants win all the division championships. This year, it was the exact opposite as four veteran teams emerged as the champions in the four divisions of the 2008 MCBL 2nd Conference.

DIVISION A: Romulo-81 GCS Agents-79 (OT)

Déjà vu? Almost.

In the 2008 MCBL 1st Conference, Romulo Law dominated the elimination round by winning all their games by double digits. The championship game seemed only a formality until Zuellig Pharma pulled off arguably, the most stunning upset in MCBL history.

In the 2008, MCBL 2nd Conference, Romulo Law once again dominated the elimination round again by winning all their games by double digits. Again, it seemed like the championship game seemed only a formality. However, first time participant, GCS Agents did their best emulation of Zuellig Pharma.

Behind a deep and balanced attack that saw 7 of their players score 7 points or more, GCS kept Romulo’s vaunted first five, all of whom were members of the Mythical Five, in check for most of the game. The game was tight throughout with no team able to pull away. Romulo had a chance to pull off a last second win, but a missed attempt in the dying seconds sent the game into overtime.

In the overtime it was a seesaw match once again. When it looked like Romulo was going to pull away, GCS clawed back again and went up by 1 with less than a minute to go. However a clutch 3 point shot by Edsel Del Rosario and a 3 point play by Ian Bencito gave Romulo the margin it needed for victory. Still, GCS had one last shot to pull off the upset, but a last second three point attempt fell short.

DIVISION B: Chevron- 87 IBM Business Services I- 74

Prior to the finals, both Chevron and IBM Business Services 1 shared similar MCBL histories.

Both made it to the finals in their first MCBL tournament. Both teams lost to their opponents in those finals. Both were now playing in their 2nd MCBL tournament. Both had won one game against each other this season. Obviously, their histories were going to be different after this match.

In the end, the favorable path went to Chevron primarily on the strength of the single most dominant performance in a MCBL final.

Division MVP Rain Sison tallied 44 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block as he almost singlehandedly kept IBM at bay. While Chevron led most of the way, IBM would rally behind the outside sniping of Paul Ansay who nailed 7 three pointers including a 30 footer heading into the fourth and the inside games of Albert Sanchez and Herbert Vergara.

However, each time they would come close, Chevron had an answer. Most of the times it would be Rain, but Chevron also drew strong games from Joel Ilao, Mark Bersales, and Don Pangcog who tallied 11, 10, and 9 points respectively.

DIVISION C: Emerson-93 Henkel-62

All 5 teams of Division C shared two things in common.

All of them had played in at least two MCBL tournaments. None of them had ever won a title.

In the end, perhaps it was fitting that the team that would win their first championship would be the one with the longest tenure in the MCBL. Emerson and 7-Eleven are the only teams to participate in every MCBL tournament since it began in 2005. While 7-Eleven has won three titles, Emerson had finished as runner-up three times, the most by any MCBL team.

Early on, it looked like they would add a 4th runner-up finish to their MCBL resume.

Behind Division MVP and Best Defender, Ronald Cahanding, Henkel kept Emerson at bay as it led 20-10 after the first 12 minutes. But then, the vaunted fast break of Emerson began to emerge as they finally annexed the lead in the 2nd quarter and went into the half with a 44-37 lead.

As the non-stop fastbreak attack of Emerson began to impose its will, the last chance of Henkel to stave off Emerson probably disappeared when Cahanding fouled out of the game in the 3rd quarter. From there, the outcome was pretty much only a formality.

5 Emerson players scored in double figures led by Mythical Five members Marlon Cruz and Rocky Turingan who notched 15 and 11 points respectively. 5 other players notched 6 points or more in a total team effort.

DIVISION D: Globe All-Stars-84 Makati Medical-72

In the semifinals, Makati Medical defeated 1st seeded Coffey who had lost only 1 game all season. It was hoping to cap a magical run by beating another team that had also lost only once all season.

Unfortunately for Makati Medical, the Globe All-Stars were not going to let Globe Telecom, which had 3 teams participating in the tournament, leave empty handed.

Both teams used a fairly balanced attack that saw both teams have 5 players each score in double figures. After a tight first quarter that saw Globe trail by 1, they would end the half with a 38-28 lead. From there, they would keep Makati Medical at bay for the rest of the game.

Globe was led by Mark Cristi’s 17 points and by 16 points each from Division MVP Vince Cortez and Mythical Five Member Jordan Besabe. Lester Suntay paced Makati Medical with 13 points.

MCBL 2008 2nd CONFERENCE

The 2nd conference of the 2008 season of the MPG Corporate Basketball League (MCBL) was recently launched. The MCBL is open to all teams made up of a corporation’s regular and contractual employees who are part of the day-to-day operations of the company. To ensure parity in the games, teams are grouped into divisions based on relative strength as determined by the teams and the organizers. The 25 corporate teams participating in the 2008 2nd conference are as follows:

DIVISION A- Accenture Aces, Cebuana Lhuillier, GCS International, Globe I-Phone, Goldstar Securities Group, IBM Business Services II, Romulo Law, 7-Eleven,

DIVISION B- Accenture Knights, Chevron Holdings Inc., IBM Business Services I, Logica, Metrobank Card, Thomson Reuters,

DIVISION C- Emerson-GMDC, Globe Telecom, Henkel, Pepsi, Shell V-Power

DIVISION D- Coffey Philippines, Globe All-Stars, Kaisa Consulting, Kino Consumer, Makati Medical, Mitsuba

Games are held on weeknights and weekends at various venues which include the Northeast Greenhills Gym, Acropolis, Reyes Gym, D-Zone, and Club 650. Complete game, team, and career statistics are posted at the league’s official website at www.gameface.ph/mcbl.php.

The 2nd Conference is usually held from October to early December while the 1st conference takes place from late April to June every year. There is no limit to the number of teams that can join and divisions that can be formed. Companies can field more than one team. For more information, log on to www.gameface.ph/mcbl.php or call Management Partners Group at 635-3257 or send an email to sports@mpg.ph.

Published in Philippine Daily Inquirer
Sunday, October 12

DIVISION B CHAMPIONSHIP

On paper, this had all the makings of a great match-up.

Both teams ended the eliminations atop their respective groups. Only a 1-point loss to Emerson-GMDC prevented IBM Business Services from entering into the finals as an undefeated team as well. Since the crossover matches were randomly selected, the two teams did not face each other in the eliminations. This would be their first and last match-up for the season.

And both teams wouldn’t give an inch.

As a testimony how evenly matched this two teams were, the game was tight throughout with no team leading by more than 5 for most of the first half. IBM led 24-20 and 42-40 after the 1st and 2nd quarters.

As the third quarter drew to a close, Cebuana Lhuillier’s main strength of bench depth and evenly balanced attack began to take its toll on IBM BS as they entered the 4th quarter with a 62-57 lead. Towards the middle of the 4th, it looked as if Cebuana Lhuillier could put the game away as it went up by ten with less than 5 minutes to go.

However, IBM BS would not go away. Behind several free throws from JR Bulaon, they would cut the lead to 3 points with less than two minutes remaining. However, Cebuana Lhuillier made key shots and defensive stops at the end to pull off the victory.

Mythical Five member Jaycee Bernaldo led Cebuana Lhuillier with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Team mate Melchor Jaluag chipped in 18 points and 13 boards. Division MVP, Hebert Vergara of IBM BS led all scorers with 35 points.

DIVISION A CHAMPIONSHIP

It’s hard to believe that a match involving two MCBL champion teams would be the same one that was arguably, the greatest upset in MCBL history.

Both teams were seeking to join 7-Eleven as the only teams to win 2 MCBL titles. While both teams had championship pedigree, their records this season showed that this game was a mismatch in favor of one of the more dominant teams to play in the MCBL.

Romulo Law had won all their elimination round matches by at least 12 points with two of those victories coming against Zuellig Pharma. Led by Division MVP, Samuel Ignacio and fellow Mythical Five members, Alvin Se and Ian Bencito, it seemed like the finals was just going to be a simple formality prior to the awarding of Romulo Law of its 2nd MCBL championship.

However, Zuellig Pharma had other ideas.

Led by the hot 3-point shooting of Michael De La Pena (4-8 3PT FG) and the all-around game of Best Defensive Player Christopher Riva, Zuellig held off Romulo Law for the duration of the game. Zuellig actually outscored Romulo for the first three quarters. A late rally by Romulo Law made the game close towards the end but eventually time would run out on them. The enormity of their achievement was not lost on the Zuellig Pharma players as they whooped it up in the sidelines as the buzzer sounded.

With the win, Zuellig Pharma made it a perfect two-for-two in their history of the MCBL. The first time they won, it was probably expected. This one was not.

In the end, it’s probably what makes it a whole lot sweeter.