Bataan Risers

Bataan Risers
2024 Bataan Risers season
League	MPBL
Founded	2018;7 years ago (2018)
History	Bataan Defenders 2018 Bataan Risers 2018–present
Arena	Bataan People's Center Orion Sports Complex
Location	Bataan
Team colors
Main sponsor	Camaya Coast
Head coach	Rene Baena

The 1Bataan Risers, more commonly known as the Bataan Risers, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the province of Bataan. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. The team splits its home games between Bataan People's Center in Balanga and Orion Sports Complex in Orion.

The Bataan franchise began play in 2018 as one of the MPBL's charter teams, originally going by the Bataan Defenders before switching to its current name the following season. Bataan also fielded a team in 3x3 basketball in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 and has also participated in the 2019 FIBA 3x3 World Tour as the Balanga Chooks.

The team made the playoffs in its first four seasons in the league and held the league's best record in the 2018–19 season under homegrown player Gary David and coach Jojo Lastimosa.

The Risers are one of four teams based in Central Luzon. Since its founding, the team is owned by the Provincial Government of Bataan. ^[1] The team is also sponsored by Camaya Coast, a Bataan-based residential development, hence the team is also known as the 1Bataan Risers–Camaya Coast.

History

2018–2020: The Gary David era

Logo of the Bataan Risers used during the 2018–19 season.

Bataan joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League as one of the ten charter teams for the league's inaugural season. The Defenders were one of two Central Luzon teams at the time, the other being the Bulacan Kuyas. In their inaugural season, as the Bataan Defenders, the team barely made the playoffs as it shared a 2–7 record with the Imus Bandera, but was able to clinch the last spot as they beat Imus in their head-to-head matchup. The team was swept in the Quarterfinals to the eventual champion Batangas City Athletics.

For the 2018–19 season, the team changed its name to the Bataan Risers. Coincidentally, that season saw the team rise to the league's best record that season with a record of 23–2. After sweeping the Caloocan Supremos in the First Round, they would fall in an upset against the Manila Stars in the Division Semifinals.

In the 2019–20 season, Bataan made the playoffs for the third consecutive season but lost to the Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the First Round.

2022–present: The post-David era

The team then opted out of participating in the 2021 Invitational before returning in 2022. During the 2022 season, all of the team's home games were placed at Orion Sports Complex in Orion. where they made the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year, but once again lost to Pampanga in the First Round.

In the 2023 season, Bataan returned to the Bataan People's Center. It also saw the team host that season's All-Star Game. Bataan's race to the playoffs has been close, but unfortunately, they finished the season one game below .500 with a 13–15 record. Placing ninth in the North Division, Bataan missed the playoffs for the first time in the team's history, leaving the Batangas City Embassy Chill as the only founding member to never miss the playoffs.

In the 2024 season, despite keeping their previous all-stars in Arvie Bringas and Yzes Sazon, the Risers only recorded nine wins in 28 games and placing 12th in the North Division. This resulted in the team's worst season since 2018.

Home venues

The Bataan franchise used the Bataan People's Center as their home venue in every season they played in except 2022, when they exclusively used the Orion Sports Complex (also referred to as Kamalig Sports Complex), which they would later utilize in 2024.

Venue	Location	2018	2018–19	2019–20	2022	2023	2024
Bataan People's Center	Balanga, Bataan	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
Orion Sports Complex	Orion, Bataan	N	N	N	Y	N	Y

Personnel

Current roster

Bataan Risers roster

• v
• t
• e

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G 1 Darang, Robbi  (SGL) 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Diliman G/F 2 Bringas, Carl 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) TUP G/F 3 Lastimosa, Ron 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) National-U F/C 6 Acuño, Rey Mark 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1994–08–29 UE G/F 8 Vera, Dominick 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) G/F 10 Santos, Jeff 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Lyceum F 11 Octobre, Rhaffy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1992–01–27 Visayas F 12 Paguio Jr., Dante  (HG) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) G/F 13 Castro, James Darwin  (HG) 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) F/C 14 Ramos, Alex 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) G 18 Ramirez, Edrian Mark  (SGL) 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Immaculada Concepcion F 19 Soriano, Jeremiah 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) UE G/F 22 Sazon, Yves  (HG) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Philippine Christian F 39 Gabawan, Jamil  (HG) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 1990–03–19 Letran F 45 Maynes, Mitchelle 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

Head coach Rene Baena Assistant coach(es) Louie Cortina Ernie Laurel Prinz Cruz Brian Gorospe Marvin Molines Team manager Woody Co Legend (HG) Homegrown (FF) Filipino-foreigner (SGL) Special Guest Licensee (RS) Reserve player Injured Roster – via Genius Sports Updated as of: January 7, 2025

Head coaches

Bataan Risers head coaches
#	Name	Start	End	Achievements	Ref.
1	Jay Sierra	2018	2018	—	[2]
2	Kerwin McCoy	2018	2018	—
3	Jojo Lastimosa	2018	2019	Best regular season record (2018–19)	[3]
4	Jong Uichico	2019	2019	—	[4]
5	Jonas Villanueva	2019	2020	—
6	JR Villanueva	2022	2022	—
7	Ricky Dandan	2022	2023	—	[5]
8	Alex Callueng	2023	2023	—
9	Rene Baena	2024	2024	—

Notable players

MPBL All-Star Day

All-Star selections Gary David – 2019 Alfred Batino – 2020 Arvie Bringas – 2022 Yves Sazon – 2023

All-Star Game head coaches Jojo Lastimosa – 2019

Pre-game event winners Gary David – Three-Point Shootout (2019) Byron Villarias – Two-Ball Challenge (2019) Pamboy Raymundo – Two-Ball Challenge (2019)

PBA players

Ex-PBA players Robby Celiz Gary David [6] Alfonzo Gotladera Chito Jaime Reed Juntilla Leo Najorda Pamboy Raymundo Jai Reyes Byron Villarias

Drafted to PBA Sean Manganti – 8th overall, 2019 Leonard Santillan – 5th overall, season 46 Alvin Pasaol – 9th overall, season 46 Anton Asistio – 22nd overall, season 46 Robbi Darang – 48th overall, season 49

Season-by-season records

	League champions
	Division champions
	Qualified for playoffs
	Best regular season record

Season	Regular season							Playoffs
	Division	Finish	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Stage	Results
Bataan Defenders
2018 Rajah Cup	—	8th	9	2	7	.222	6	Quarterfinals	lost vs. Batangas City, 0–2
Bataan Risers
2018–19 Datu Cup	North	1st	25	23	2	.920	—	Division quarterfinals Division semifinals	won vs Caloocan, 2–0 lost vs. Manila 1–2
2019–20 Lakan Season	North	5th	30	20	10	.667	6	Division quarterfinals	lost vs. Pampanga, 0–2
2022	North	5th	21	13	8	.619	8	Division quarterfinals	lost vs. Pampanga, 1–2
2023	North	9th	28	13	15	.464	13	Did not qualify
2024	North	12th	28	9	19	.321	17	Did not qualify
2025	TBA	To be determined						To be determined
All-time regular season record			141	80	61	.567		4 playoff appearances
All-time playoff record			12	4	8	.333		0 finals appearances
All-time overall record			153	84	69	.549		0 championships

References

1. Joble, Rey (January 15, 2018). "Bataan Defenders of Bai Shipping join MPBL". Business World. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
2. "Ex-PBA star plays in MPBL". Tempo. January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
3. Olivares, Rick (December 10, 2018). "Bataan coach Jojo Lastimosa ready for MPBL showdown with San Juan". Philstar.com. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
4. Terrado, Reuben (May 29, 2019). "Should PBA assistants be allowed to coach in MPBL? Board decides". Spin.ph. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
5. "MPBL: Bataan, Nueva Ecija stay perfect Quezon survives Mindoro". Tiebreaker Times. March 19, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
6. Leongson, Randolph (January 23, 2018). "Gary David 'honored' to play for hometown Bataan in MPBL". Inquirer.Net. Retrieved February 12, 2018.