MANILA, Philippines — CafeFrance and Blackwater Elite will have the chance to feel the heat when they debut against separate rivals Thursday in the resumption of the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at The Arena in San Juan.
Of the two, CafeFrance faces the tougher challenge as it battles Cebuana Lhuillier at 4 p.m.
Cebuana Lhuillier is one of two fancied teams in the maiden tournament that drew a total of 13 teams – the other is North Luzon Expressway which debuted with an 82-71 win over Freego Jeans.
Clashing in the first game are the Blackwater Elites of former PBL chairman Dioceldo Sy and Pharex.
CafeFrance, owned by Johnny Yap and mentored by former La Salle cager Mon Jose, will field in most of its players from Centro Escolar University led by Chino Almario, Ryan Gallardo, Axl Jeff Garcia and Rock Mejos.
The team will be reinforced by former JRU guard JR Bulangis and erswhile National University center Jewel Ponferrada.
Arellano University stars Andrian Celada, Gerald Lapuz and Rocky Acidre will banner the Elites along with Gio Ciriacruz and Joshua Saret.
Benedict Fernandez, Pari Llagas, Allein Maliksi and Kelvin Gregorio, who all played for the Philippine Patriots, will spearhead Cebuana's campaign alongside former Jose Rizal University standouts Marvin Hayes, a reserve player for Alaska, and James Sena.
Adding firepower for the squad of coach Luigi Trillo are current Letran star Kevin Alas and former University of the Visayas big man Ariel Mepana.(MB)
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