THE MPBL Datu Cup swings back up north at the Angeles University Foundation in Angeles, Pampanga on Wednesday night.
Pampanga battles Makati in the main game at 9 p.m. right after the match between Navotas and Parañaque at 7 p.m.
A new look Dong Lanterns will show up in front of their hometown cheering crowd parading new coaches and newly-acquired players from the free agency.
Aldrin Morante, the coach who led the Muntinlupa Cagers-Angelis Resort to a perfect 7-0 start and steered the same squad all the way to the championship round in the inaugural staging of the league, will now call the shots for the Dong Lanterns.
Mr. Morante will be assisted by Bong dela Cruz, his deputy in the Cagers camp. But the Lanterns did not only tinker their coaching staff, they also bolstered their roster with newly-recruited players in ex-pros Levi Hernandez and Pari Llagas.
Hernandez, a notable scoring guard, was acquired by the Lanterns in a trade with the Navotas Clutch, in exchange for burly frontliner Marlon Gomez. — Rey Joble
