Cebu leads Liga Pilipinas team standings

LIPA CITY (July 8, 2008) – Double-leg winner Cebu, on the strength of its triumphs in Ilocos Sur and Pagadian, leads the Liga Pilipinas team standings with 24 Tour points, fortifying the Ninos' bid for an outright quarterfinal berth with two more stops in their schedule.

The Pampanga Buddies, who won the second leg before their hometown crowd in San Fernando, rank second with 20 points, followed by the Pagadian Explorers, champions in the Misamis Oriental leg, with 17, and fellow leg winner Taguig Batang Global, 16 points.

Completing the standings are: Misamis Oriental (9), Ilocos Sur (7), Baguio (6), Tagaytay-Cavite (6), Laguna (4), Lipa-Batangas (4), Zamboanga (3), (Iloilo 2), and Quezon (2).

As per tournament format, each of the 13 participating teams – on the way to competing in four different legs – will host one qualification round tourney to complete a total of 13 legs.

Already, Misamis Oriental, Ilocos Sur, Pampanga, Taguig, and Pagadian have played hosts to five recently concluded legs, with Lipa-Batangas and Zamboanga housing competitors in Week 4.

Based on its finish in each of the four legs assigned it, a team will be awarded Tour points – 10 points to the champion, five to the runnerup, and three to the third-placer, on top of its won game points (1 for every victory in the elimination) – to determine the standings at the end of the qualification round.

The top four teams with the highest points advance to the quarterfinals, while the next eight teams go through a wildcard phase where the 5^th-ranked to the 8^th-ranked team enjoy twice-to-beat privileges against the 9^th- to 12^th-placed squads.

Kicking off hostilities at the provincial capital of Batangas today are the Iloilo Mang Inasals against the Baguio Victory at 3 p.m., followed by the featured game pitting the host Barakos against the Tagaytay-Cavite Heroes at 5 p.m.

Over in Zamboanga, the Pagadian Explorers, winners in Week 1 at the Misamis Oriental leg, and the Batang Global, victors in Week 3 in Taguig, collide at 3 p.m., while the Bravehearts of Ilocos and the hometown favotire Amores take the court at 5 p.m.