A tough and hectic summer lies ahead for Bacolod City’s top collegiate basketball team.

The West Negros University Mustangs will embark on two major national tournaments and are eyeing a stint in another new league from April to May.

First up for the Mustangs, the nine-time defending NOPSSCEA champions, is the National Private Schools Athletic Association Meet in Zamboanga City from April 8-12 in Zamboanga City.

The Mustangs, led by ace playmaker Alfie Villariza and skipper Vengie Vergara, will have three reinforcements from Iloilo schools as they banner the Western Visayas bid in Zamboanga.

The Mustangs will also see action in the Collegiate Super League organized by network giant ABS-CBN in Manila starting April 16.

WNU is also planning to participate in the Liga ng Pilipinas, a regional league supported by the BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. The league is tentatively set in May.

The CSL draws the top 16 college teams in the country with the champion bagging P1 million in cash.

The second-place team will get P200,000, while third place will claim P50,000. Fourth to eighth placers will be awarded P20,000 each, while the ninth to 16th place squads are assured of P10,000 each.

With Manila teams getting the higher seeding, the Mustangs will have to make do with their No. 14 ranking which puts them in a possible opening-day confrontation with UAAP losing finalist University of the East.

The tournament, which will have UAAP champion De La Salle and NCAA titlist San Beda College as the top two seeds, will adapt a step-ladder format with a loser’s bracket. Two losses, though, would mean elimination. 

Also seeing action in the tournament are Colegio San Juan Letran, Ateneo De Manila University, University of Sto. Tomas, Mapua Institute of Technology, University of Visayas, Arellano University, St. Francis of Assisi College, STI, Manuel L. Quezon University, University of Mindanao and CCDC.

Mustangs’ coach Dennis Tumayan said his players are preparing hard for the tough summer grind.

“This is where our conditioning will come in. This summer will really be tough for the team,” said Tumayan, who steered the Mustangs to back-to-back third place finishes in the National University Games.

The Mustangs last played in the Western Visayas PRISAA, where, along with players from University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos and University of St. La Salle, they reclaimed for NOPSSCEA the men’s basketball crown.

WNU had a forgetful stint in the Collegiate Champions League late last year, bowing in the first round to Jose Rizal University.*CPT

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