SWU to compete in Filoil hoop

For the first time in league history, a team outside of Manila will compete in the upcoming 2013 Filoil Flying V Preseason tournament as the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras look to prepare for this season of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) by joining the prestigious competition at the nation’s capital.

This was confirmed yesterday by SWU assistant coach Rocky Alcoseba, the son of current head coach and local basketball’s legend of a coach, Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba. He said they were invited to join the tournament, which pits the best collegiate basketball squads from the different leagues in Manila against one another.

For yet another year, SWU will be skipping Cebu’s own preseason tournament, the Partner’s Cup, which starts on April 14, as they look for bigger fish to fry in their title-defense preparation. And they will be heading to the big leagues looking to further incorporate into the squad their newest African import, Fabrice Siewe, who has big shoes to fill with the departure of star forward Ben Mbala.

Mbala, one of the men responsible for bringing SWU its first and only title in the Cesafi, opted for greener grass in the offseason and committed to join the De La Salle University Green Archers in the UAAP. In his place is Siewe, a burly forward whose talent is steadily developing and is expected to make an impact alongside long-time reinforcement Justin Aboude.