San Miguel Beer, Meralco to headline EASL season opener
The East Asia Super League (EASL) Home and Away launches its 2024-25 season, kicking off a thrilling double-header at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, October 2.
Two PBA basketball champions will banner the opening games with the reigning Commissioner’s Cup victors San Miguel Beermen will face Korean Basketball League finalist Suwon KT Sonicboom in the first game of the night, while PBA Philippine Cup winners Meralco Bolts will then take on Macau Black Bears.
“We feel that tomorrow's games will be a great way to launch the 2024-2025 season,” Banjo Albano, Head of Philippines for the East Asia Super League, told the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
The magnitude of how much the Philippine fans love the game of basketball propelled Albano and his company to conduct the EASL tip-off in the country, citing Manila as the best place to commence this year’s season opener.
“Not only is it an honor, but really more of an obligation to grow the game here locally as well. So, once the chance came about scheduling the games here in Manila, the whole team, Adam included, we had a great deal of discussion, and we felt that Manila would be the best place to kick off the season.”
Heading into the second season, EASL has recently expanded in terms of number of teams. From previously having eight teams, they stretched the participating teams into 10.
“We have added a team from Hong Kong and from Macau. So, we will be playing 34 games, starting with tomorrow, on the 2nd of October. The games will then go all the way through, all across about six months, and finish on the 9th of March,” said Vice President and Head of Commercial and Broadcast Operations, Adam Zecha.
“This will be 30 games during the group stage, four games during our playoffs, which is our final four. So, it is bigger. It is a bigger season than we had last season,” he added.
With EASL welcoming the expansion of participating teams within the neighboring countries, possibilities of inviting leagues from Australia and New Zealand entered the discourse as they are also playing in the FIBA Asia.
Zecha explained that when there are champions of Asia playing each other, it attracts a lot of attention. It gets a lot of interest from different leagues around the region close by, as well as further away.
“We enjoy that, we like that, we welcome it. We want to be able to have the best teams playing across the world,” he said. “We need to work on the logistics on how we will make that happen. There are a lot of conversations going on about how to best structure something like that.”
Zecha even reckoned that they are not closing their doors to that opportunity in the future as they are always having conversations with other leagues about having more teams to join.
In the previous edition, the Japanese team Chiba Jets won the championship with Philippine representatives, TNT Tropang Giga and Meralco Bolts failing to make it to the Final Four.
No announcement yet on the location for the Final Four playoffs as the finishing season was held in Cebu last year.
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The NLEX Road Warriors wrapped up their preseason on a high note, clinching the 40th Kadayawan Invitational championship with a commanding 101-84 victory over the Blackwater Bossing on Sunday night, August 26, at the University of Southern Philippines in Davao City.
It wasn’t the smoothest of starts for NLEX, which found itself down by 11 early in the game. But the tide shifted in the second quarter, where the Road Warriors erupted for a 34-12 run behind the efforts of Robert Bolick, Dominic Fajardo, Tony Semerad, and Xyrus Torres to seize a 52-36 halftime lead.
Blackwater attempted a late push, cutting the gap to 76-65 in the fourth quarter, but NLEX responded with a 12-5 counter that put the game out of reach. Semerad, who buried three triples in the payoff period, earned Finals MVP honors with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Torres topped the scoring for NLEX with 19 markers, while Bolick came close to a triple-double with eight points, six boards, and nine assists. JB Bahio and Fajardo chipped in 12 and 10 markers, respectively. As a team, the Road Warriors torched the net from beyond the arc, going 18-of-34, with Semerad and Torres sinking four each.
Sedrick Barefield paced Blackwater with 15 points, while Richard Escoto added 14. The Bossing, despite falling short in the finals, had an impressive run in the preliminaries, including a comeback win over NLEX, 95-90, earlier in the tournament.
The championship serves as a timely boost for NLEX heading into the new PBA season. Last year, the Road Warriors finished second in the Philippine Cup eliminations before bowing out in the quarterfinals against Rain or Shine. Deputy mentor Adonis Tierra called the shots in their last two games, steering the team to become the second straight PBA squad to lift the Kadayawan crown, following Rain or Shine’s sweep in 2024. NLEX closed the tournament with a 3-1 card, their lone loss coming at the hands of Blackwater.
In the battle for third place, Phoenix avoided a winless campaign with a convincing 101-81 rout of Converge. Raffy Verano led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Tyler Tio and Kai Ballungay contributed 17 and 15 markers, respectively. The win marked the first for new head coach Willy Wilson, who took over during the offseason. Coincidentally, Phoenix also defeated Converge for third place in last year’s edition of the tournament.
The NLEX Road Warriors and Blackwater Bossing opened their campaigns in the 2025 Kadayawan Invitational with victories in their respective first games on Thursday, August 21, at the USEP Gym in Davao City.
In the first game, Sedrick Barefield made an immediate impact for the Bossing. The 2024 second overall pick erupted for 28 points, including six triples. Three of those came in succession in the fourth quarter, turning a slim 72-66 lead into a more comfortable 81-68 cushion.
Troy Mallillin contributed 17 points and six rebounds, while newcomer Jed Mendoza impressed in his debut with 16 points.
For the Phoenix Fuel Masters, Jason Perkins and Kai Ballungay scored 12 points apiece in their first game under new head coach Willie Wilson, who took over from Jamike Jarin after he was moved to a team consultant role.
The East Asia Super League (EASL) is officially set to raise the curtain on its new season with a twin opening in Taipei and Tokyo on October 8, 2025 — a move that reflects the league’s expanding reach and growing stature as Asia’s premier basketball competition.
All eyes in Taiwan will be on the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium, which will host a blockbuster doubleheader featuring some of the region’s most decorated clubs.
The action tips off with a clash between the B.LEAGUE champions Utsunomiya Brex and the P. LEAGUE+ runners-up Taipei Fubon Braves. Utsunomiya, led by veteran guard Makoto Hiejima, entered as one of Japan’s most successful franchises. The Braves, meanwhile, look to prove their resilience after falling short in a grueling seven-game finals series last season, banking on the leadership of Chinese Taipei legend Lin Chih-Chieh.
The second game of the night brings a rematch between the P. LEAGUE+ champions Taoyuan Pauian Pilots and Japan’s Ryukyu Golden Kings. Their last encounter came in the 2025 EASL Final Four semifinals, where Taoyuan stunned Ryukyu, 71–64. This time, the Golden Kings are eager for redemption, while the Pilots hope to reaffirm their place among Asia’s elite.
Game schedule (HKT):
- Utsunomiya vs. Taipei Fubon – 6:30 PM
- Taoyuan vs. Ryukyu – 8:30 PM