Two former members of the 2010 Cesafi juniors championship-winning Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons squad will be making a return to Cebu this Friday as the M. Lhuillier Sinulog Cup kicks off tomorrow afternoon at the Cebu Coliseum.
Benjamin James “BJ” Zosa and Mark Olayon will be coming back to the place that saw them attain glory for the CEC Dragons, although this time, they will be wearing the colors of red and white for the visiting University of the East Red Warriors of PBA legend and head coach Jerry Codinera.
Zosa made it to the varsity squad last year while Olayon is going to see action with Team A for the first time.
The Red Warriors are aiming to get better after suffering through a miserable 3-11 (win-loss) season in the UAAP last year.
Aside from Zosa and Olayon, focus will be on UE’s other youngsters such as Von Chavez, Dan Alberto, Lord Casajeros, Jhon Sumido, JM Noble, Joseph Montelibano, Erwin Duran, Ronnie Rosetom, Jairold Flores, Adrian Santo and Moustapha Arafat.
UE’s first assignment will be a tough one as they will be facing off against the recently crowned Cebu Basketball Association champions M. Lhuillier-Southwestern University Cobras, which will once again star several PBA D-Leaguers in Cafe France stalwarts Jeff Viernes and Chris Dumapig along with former San Beda guard, Jessmar Villahermosa. Manning the middle for SWU will be Abby Santos, Justin Aboude and new recruit, Cameroonian Mendjala Mbala.
Also participating in the tournament are the University of the Visayas Green Lancers and the reigning NCAA champions San Beda Red Lions. The Lions, though, will be without stalwarts Garvo Lanete and Dave Marcelo but will be bannered by Jake Pascual, Kyle Pascula, Rome dela Rosa and rookie sensation Baser Amer.