Xavier, CKS collide in Tiong Lian opener

Action in the Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association Championships fires off on Jan. 10 with Xavier School and Chiang Kai Shek College clashing at the UNO High School gym in Tondo, Manila.

Bannered by Teng brothers – Jeric and Jeron – the Xavier Golden Stallions will be gunning for their eighth title after beating the Chiang Kai Shel Blue Dragons for the crown last year.

Jeric, son of former San Miguel Beer mainstay Alvin Teng, will be the marked man in the premier high school tournament among Fil-Chinese schools and sponsored by Yakult.

“He will be the star of the league but there are other players who have improved tremendously and that will add excitement to this year’s tournament,” said MMTLBA chairman Milton Yu of host UNO High School.

Aside from Xavier School, Chiang Kai Shek and UNO High School, other teams competing in the tournament, backed by PG Flex Linoleum, Converse, Puma, Davies Paint, FJ Jeans, Burlington, MEC Computer and Healthy Options, are Saint Jude Catholic School, St. Stephen’s High School, Grace Christian High School and Hope Christian High School.

Though they lost last year’s plum, the Blue Dragons remain the winningest school with 14 titles.

This year’s edition is expected to be a wide open race as the other schools have trained long and hard to boost their respective bids.

“It’s going to be tough this year,” said Tan.

All games will be aired on Makisig Sports Channel (76 and 82).

Other players tipped to shine this year are Kim Lo (St. Jude), Mark Ronald Chua (UNO), Lawrence Chua (Grace Christian), Christian So (Grace Christian), Steven Chua (Chiang Kai Shek) and Aeschylus Tan (Hope Christian).