PCU pulls out players from Hapee

The Philippine Christian University (PCU) is the latest collegiate team to withdraw its cagers playing in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), GMANews.TV learned on Thursday. PCU pulled out its seven players from the Hapee Teethmasters in anticipation of the upcoming National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. It also pulled out coach Joel Dualan, who was serving as assistant to Hapee coach Jun Noel. In a letter sent to Hapee team owner Cecillio Pedro, PCU president Oscar Suarez said that he was unhappy with the playing time the PCU Dolphins were getting under Noel, who pushed the team to a runner-up finish in the recent PBL Silver Cup. The PCU players seeing action under Noel were PBL Silver Cup Most Valuable Player Jayson Castro, Beau Belga, Robbide David, Lemar Navarro, Liztian Amparado, Ian Garrido, and Robert Sanz. Castro and Belga were part of the Teethmasters' first five while Garrido and Sanz, although ineligible to play in the next NCAA caging season, are still studying at PCU. The University of the East was the first to recall its players, including PBL Rookie of the Year Mark Borboran who likewise suits up for Hapee, in the league. This was followed by San Beda. - GMANews.TV