2024 MPBL Preseason Invitational

2024 MPBL Preseason Invitational

Tournament details
Country	Philippines
City	General Santos
Venue	Lagao Gymnasium
Dates	February 21–27, 2024
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	Pampanga Giant Lanterns
Runners-up	South Cotabato Warriors
Third place	Batangas City Athletics
Fourth place	Quezon City Toda Aksyon
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
←  2023 2026  →

The 2024 MPBL Preseason Invitational was the preseason pocket tournament for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2024 season and the third edition of the MPBL Preseason Invitational. The tournament began on February 21, 2024 and ended with the final game on February 27, 2024. ^[1] The Pampanga Giant Lanterns were the tournament champions after defeating the South Cotabato Warriors with a score of 93–75. ^[2]

Similar to the previous edition, the tournament was held at the Lagao Gymnasium in General Santos and used the same eight-team format as before. The tournament coincided with the city's Kalilangan Festival.

This is currently the most recent edition of the MPBL's preseason tournament, as the 2025 edition was cancelled in January of that year.

Teams

A total of eight teams competed in the tournament. These include seven MPBL teams, as well as returning guest team GenSan Bulalakaw. Making their first Invitational appearances were the Bataan Risers, Pampanga Giant Lanterns, and Quezon City Toda Aksyon. ^[3]

List of 2024 MPBL Preseason Invitational teams

Team	Invitational statistics			2023 season statistics
	Apps.	Last	Best result	Record	Playoff result
Bataan Risers	1	—N/a		13–15 (.464)	–
Batangas City Athletics [a]	2	2023	Group stage (2023)	22–6 (.786)	Division Finals
GenSan Bulalakaw (guest team)	2	2023	Group stage (2023)	—N/a
Manila Stars [b]	2	2021	Group stage (2021)	4–23 (.148)	–
Pampanga Giant Lanterns	1	—N/a		26–2 (.929)	Champion
Quezon City Toda Aksyon	1	—N/a		3–25 (.107)	–
South Cotabato Warriors [c]	3	2023	Group stage (2021, 2023)	21–7 (.750)	Division Semifinals
Valenzuela Classic [d]	3	2023	Group stage (2021, 2023)	3–25 (.107)	–

Notes

1. Competed as Batangas City Embassy Chill during the 2023 season. The name was later changed to Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters for the 2024 season.
2. The name was later changed to Manila Batang Sampaloc for the 2024 season.
3. Competed as GenSan Warriors during the 2023 season. The new name would remain for the 2024 season.
4. Competed as Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. during the 2023 season. The new name would remain for the 2024 season.

Format

The tournament was divided into two stages: the group stage and the playoffs. The eight participating teams were divided into two groups of four. Both groups play in a single round-robin format, wherein each team plays one game against all other teams within the same group. The top two teams in each group advance to a two-round, single-elimination playoffs consisting of all knockout games. ^[3]

Every team was given prize money based on their standings: ₱1.5 million for the champion, ₱500,000 for the runner-up, ₱300,000 for the third-place team, ₱200,000 for the fourth-place team, and ₱125,000 for all non-playoff teams. ^[4]

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification		SOC	BTG	BAN	MNL
1	South Cotabato Warriors	3	3	0	260	238	+22	Playoffs		—	81–79	88–75	91–84
2	Batangas City Athletics	3	2	1	259	215	+44			79–81	—	86–75	94–59
3	Bataan Risers	3	1	2	256	253	+3			75–88	75–86	—	106–79
4	Manila Stars	3	0	3	222	291	−69			84–91	59–94	79–106	—

Source: Schedule – via Genius Sports
Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2a) If two teams are tied, head-to-head match-up; 2b) If three or more teams are tied, head-to-head point quotient; 3) overall point quotient; 4) coin toss.

Games

MPTV February 21 4:00 pm Boxscore Manila Stars 79–106 Bataan Risers Scoring by quarter: 11–26, 25–19, 17–33, 26–28 Pts: Peter Rosillo 18 Rebs: Anthony Umali 13 Asts: Peter Rosillo 7 Pts: Yves Sazon 20 Rebs: Jamil Gabawan 12 Asts: Kristoffer Torrado 8 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 21 6:00 pm Boxscore South Cotabato Warriors 81–79 Batangas City Athletics Scoring by quarter:20–15, 20–17, 23–26, 18–21 Pts: Kyle Tolentino 21 Rebs: Felix Apreku 10 Asts: Felix Apreku 6 Pts: Juneric Baloria 17 Rebs: Jeckster Apinan 10 Asts: MJ dela Virgen 7 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 22 6:00 pm Boxscore Batangas City Athletics 94–59 Manila Stars Scoring by quarter:31–12, 23–17, 23–11, 17–19 Pts: Cedric Ablaza 17 Rebs: Oliver Arim 14 Asts: CJ Isit 7 Pts: Shawn Umali 20 Rebs: Shawn Umali 13 Asts: Mark Yu, Peter Rosillo 3 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 22 8:00 pm Boxscore Bataan Risers 75–88 South Cotabato Warriors Scoring by quarter:20–16, 12–23, 20–36, 23–13 Pts: Rhaffy Octubre 13 Rebs: Alex Ramos, Carl Bringas 8 Asts: Edrian Ramirez 5 Pts: John Wilson 28 Rebs: Christian Fajarito 14 Asts: Nico Elorde 8 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 23 6:00 pm Boxscore South Cotabato Warriors 91–84 Manila Stars Scoring by quarter:27–19, 13–18, 26–21, 25–26 Pts: Jammer Jamito 21 Rebs: Christian Fajarito 9 Asts: Nico Elorde 7 Pts: Shawn Umali 29 Rebs: Shawn Umali 9 Asts: Peter Rosillo 6 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 24 6:00 pm Boxscore Batangas City Athletics 86–75 Bataan Risers Scoring by quarter: 19–31, 24–16, 19–8, 24–20 Pts: Levi Hernandez 22 Rebs: Cedric Ablaza 9 Asts: MJ dela Virgen 7 Pts: Mitchelle Maynes 23 Rebs: Mitchelle Maynes 10 Asts: Kristoffer Torrado 4 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification		PAM	QC	VAL	GSB
1	Pampanga Giant Lanterns	3	3	0	285	223	+62	Playoffs		—	73–68	103–80	109–75
2	Quezon City Toda Aksyon	3	1 [a]	2	247	233	+14			68–73	—	99–77	80–83
3	Valenzuela Classic	3	1 [a]	2	250	263	−13			80–103	77–99	—	93–61
4	GenSan Bulalakaw	3	1 [a]	2	219	282	−63			75–109	83–80	61–93	—

Source: Schedule – via Genius Sports
Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2a) If two teams are tied, head-to-head match-up; 2b) If three or more teams are tied, head-to-head point quotient; 3) overall point quotient; 4) coin toss.
Notes:

1. Quezon City (1.119), Valenzuela (1.063), and GenSan (0.832) are ranked based on head-to-head point quotient.

Games

MPTV February 21 8:00 pm Boxscore Valenzuela Classic 93–61 GenSan Bulalakaw Scoring by quarter:29–21, 23–9, 19–16, 22–15 Pts: Nhazer Mohammad 15 Rebs: Bryan Boliver 15 Asts: Darell Manliguez 4 Pts: Manny Pacquiao 19 Rebs: Victor Nguidjol 10 Asts: Victor Nguidjol, David Sisson 3 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 22 4:00 pm Boxscore Quezon City Toda Aksyon 68–73 Pampanga Giant Lanterns Scoring by quarter: 13–14, 17–16, 18–21, 20–22 Pts: Jonas Tibayan 13 Rebs: Jason Ballesteros 8 Asts: Rafael Are 4 Pts: Jhaymo Eguilos 13 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 21 Asts: Encho Serrano 8 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 23 4:00 pm Boxscore Pampanga Giant Lanterns 103–80 Valenzuela Classic Scoring by quarter: 25–25, 30–20, 24–11, 24–24 Pts: Jeff Viernes 22 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 11 Asts: MJ Garcia 5 Pts: Dennis Santos 18 Rebs: Bryan Boliver 8 Asts: Darrell Manliguez 5 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 23 8:00 pm Boxscore Quezon City Toda Aksyon 80–83 GenSan Bulalakaw Scoring by quarter: 11–23, 24–9, 17–26, 28–25 Pts: Rhinwill Yambing 18 Rebs: Kenji Roman 11 Asts: Camillus Altamirano 9 Pts: Victor Nguidjol 31 Rebs: Don Diamante 13 Asts: David Sisson 5 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 24 4:00 pm Boxscore Valenzuela Classic 77–99 Quezon City Toda Aksyon Scoring by quarter: 25–30, 7–20, 21–22, 24–27 Pts: Ryan Trazona 18 Rebs: Dennis Santos 8 Asts: Darrell Manliguez 6 Pts: Rhinwill Yambing 24 Rebs: Kenji Roman 10 Asts: Kenji Roman 6 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos MPTV February 24 8:00 pm Boxscore Pampanga Giant Lanterns 109–75 GenSan Bulalakaw Scoring by quarter:23–21, 23–24, 31–14, 32–16 Pts: Rence Alcoriza 16 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 15 Asts: Kurt Reyson 8 Pts: Victor Nguidjol 27 Rebs: Victor Nguidjol 8 Asts: Manny Pacquiao 5 Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos

Playoffs

Bracket

	Semifinals					Finals
	A1	South Cotabato	84
	B2	Quezon City	79
						A1	South Cotabato	75
						B1	Pampanga	93
	B1	Pampanga	78
	A2	Batangas City	59			Battle for Third
						B2	Quezon City	60
						A2	Batangas City	68

Semifinals

MPTV

February 25 6:00 pm

Boxscore

Pampanga Giant Lanterns	78–59	Batangas City Athletics
Scoring by quarter:15–11, 18–15, 16–22, 29–11
Pts: Justine Baltazar 17 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 17 Asts: Encho Serrano 4		Pts: Cedric Ablaza 14 Rebs: Jeckster Apinan 11 Asts: CJ Isit 4

Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos

MPTV

February 25 8:00 pm

Boxscore

South Cotabato Warriors	84–79	Quezon City Toda Aksyon
Scoring by quarter: 13–22, 22–13, 20–14, 29–30
Pts: John Wilson 23 Rebs: Christian Fajarito 9 Asts: Nico Elorde 8		Pts: Rafael Are 20 Rebs: Jason Ballesteros 10 Asts: Camillus Altamirano 6

Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos

Battle for Third

MPTV

February 27 6:00 pm

Boxscore

Batangas City Athletics	68–60	Quezon City Toda Aksyon
Scoring by quarter:20–12, 10–19, 20–24, 18–15
Pts: RJ Ramirez 11 Rebs: Jeckster Apinan 13 Asts: MJ dela Virgen 5		Pts: Rhinwill Yambing 15 Rebs: Jason Ballesteros 9 Asts: Rafael Are 3

Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos

Finals

MPTV

February 27 8:00 pm

Boxscore

Pampanga Giant Lanterns	93–75	South Cotabato Warriors
Scoring by quarter:20–13, 27–20, 32–15, 14–27
Pts: Encho Serrano 29 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 17 Asts: Kurt Reyson 8		Pts: John Wilson 26 Rebs: Christian Fajarito 8 Asts: Mark Cruz 5

Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos

The Pampanga Giant Lanterns became the first Luzon-based team to win an MPBL Invitational championship, as the previous two (Basilan and Zamboanga) were all based in Mindanao.

Unlike previous Invitational tournaments, no Most Valuable Player award was given out at the conclusion of the tournament. Pampanga's Encho Serrano was declared the Player of the Game in the Finals.

Media

This is the second MPBL Invitational under Cignal TV's ongoing broadcast partnership with the league. The games are broadcast on Media Pilipinas TV (MPTV) on television and are streamed live via Pilipinas Live. The league continues to stream all of the games online on Facebook and YouTube.

References

1. "MPBL welcomes unlimited pros, expands with two new franchises". Tiebreaker Times. February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
2. "Baltazar, Serrano lead Pampanga to MPBL Preseason crown". Tiebreaker Times. February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
3. "Pampanga Giant Lanterns headline preseason cast". Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024– via Facebook.
4. "MPBL preseason starts in GenSan". Philstar.com. February 20, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2024.