The two newest teams in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League have made statements early in the tournament.
How are these teams performing after their first few games?
Cowboys say “Reach for the Sky!”
The Ilagan Isabela Cowboys made their MPBL debut against Sarangani Gripper last March 9 2025 (Sunday) in the league’s opening games and showed that they mean business.
The expansion team made easy work against the Grippers as they took the 74 to 54 win as former PBA player Arth Dela Cruz led the charge as he finished the game with 16 points and 11 boards. Their Point Guard, JR Olegario also tallied 13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals with 2 three-pointers. Also contributing to the win is Joshua Gallano with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.
Coach Louie Gonzales was pleased with the victory as according to him “It’s a good start and we will definitely enjoy this win because this is for our owners and for our supporters here, but we know we have a lot of challenges this season.” said in a report from spin.ph. “All I know is we have a team that works extremely hard. There’s not a lot of big names on this team, but they will keep fighting until the end.” added by the former Jose Rizal University Coach.
The game also happened in the home court of Ilagan which is named Capital Arena. A stadium that can have up to 10,000 fans.
They then lost to their 2nd game which was against Pasay Voyagers last March 13 with a score of 56 – 52 and then won on their 3rd game versus the Bulacan Kuyas as they dominate them with a final score of 109 – 82 last March 19 2025.
JR Olegario yet again showed our versus Bulacan scoring 22 points, 4 assists and knocking down 5 triples.
However they lost to Pangasinan Heatwaves in their 4th game last March 22 and 5th game which was in the hands of Biñan Tatak Gel last March 27.
The Return of the Comeback for Basilan
Basilan formerly known as “Basilan Steel” now has been rebranded to become “Basilan Viva Portmasters”. Since their franchise is bought by the Starhorse Shipping Lines, the team makes a comeback in the league after leaving just a few seasons ago.
In their debut game versus Rizal Golden Coolers last March 11 2025, they lost despite having household names in their lineup. Former multi-champion in the PBA Arwind Santos had 15 points, 9 rebounds, a steal and an assist. While his former teammate in the San Miguel Beermen PBA team, Alex Cabagnot, struggled only having 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.
They suffered another loss last March 15 versus Nueva Ecija 71 – 66 but eventually won in a overtime classic against the Valenzuela City last March 20.
Gab Dagangon scored 15 points along with 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal while former PBA center, Rabeh Al-Hussani also contributed with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block to help the team get the victory, 82 – 80.
However they lost their 4th game against Batangas last March 26 with a score of 74 – 68 and are preparing their match against San Juan Knights as of writing this story.
Playoff Aspirations
It may be way too early to tell but both of these expansion teams have a huge possibility of making their way to the playoffs.
Sure they are currently in the middle of the standings in the North and South division but having former PBA players be in your squad whilst training your soon to be stars? Anything can happen these days.
