# 2021 FilBasket Subic Championship

The FilBasket Subic Championship, also known as the FilBasket Subic Championship – Cocolife due to sponsorship reasons, was the inaugural tournament under FilBasket, now known as AsiaBasket. It was also the only tournament held in 2021. The tournament began on October 28, 2021, with the playoffs running from November 16 to 21, 2021. The entire tournament took place at the Subic Bay Gymnasium, located in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
The tournament was won by AICC Manila after defeating the San Juan Knights, two games to one, with Hesed Gabo winning Finals MVP honors.
Subic 2021 is also the only FilBasket / AsiaBasket tournament that is not under professional status, but that in itself has been disputed before and in the months after the tournament began by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB).

## Teams

Eleven teams participated in the inaugural FilBasket tournament:
| Name | Locality |
| 7A Primus | — |
| AICC Manila | — |
| Batangas City Athletics | Batangas City, Batangas |
| Burlington EOG Sports | — |
| Davao Occidental Tigers | Davao Occidental |
| FSD Makati Army | Makati |
| Medical Depot | — |
| Muntinlupa Defenders | Muntinlupa |
| Nueva Ecija Bespren | Nueva Ecija |
| Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors | Pasig |
| San Juan Knights | San Juan |

## Format

All participating teams played in a single round-robin format, where each team plays one game against all other teams, for a total of ten games.
The top eight teams then advanced to a three-round, single-elimination playoff bracket. The Quarterfinals gives higher-seeded teams a twice-to-beat advantage, needing them only one win to advance. The Semifinals is a single game while the Finals is a best-of-three series.

## Elimination round
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | AICC Manila | 10 | 8 | 2 | .800 | — | Twice-to-beat in Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Davao Occidental Tigers | 10 | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | Twice-to-beat in Quarterfinals |
| 3 | San Juan Knights | 10 | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | Twice-to-beat in Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Nueva Ecija Bespren | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Twice-to-beat in Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Twice-to-win in Quarterfinals |
| 6 | Medical Depot | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Twice-to-win in Quarterfinals |
| 7 | Burlington EOG Sports | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Twice-to-win in Quarterfinals |
| 8 | Batangas City Athletics | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3 | Twice-to-win in Quarterfinals |
| 9 | 7A Primus | 10 | 2 | 8 | .200 | 6 | |
| 10 | FSD Makati Army | 10 | 2 | 8 | .200 | 6 | |
| 11 | Muntinlupa Defenders | 10 | 0 | 10 | .000 | 8 | |
* 1 2 Davao Occidental wins tiebreaker over San Juan by head-to-head victory.
* 1 2 3 4 Nueva Ecija (2–1) and Pasig (2–1) win tiebreaker over Burlington (1–2) and Batangas City (1–2) based on head-to-head standings; Nueva Ecija wins tiebreaker over Pasig by head-to-head victory; Burlington wins tiebreaker over Batangas City by head-to-head victory.
* 1 2 7A Primus wins tiebreaker over FSD Makati by head-to-head victory.

### Results

| Teams | AICC | BTG | BUR | DVO | FSD | MED | MUN | NEB | PSG | SJK |
| 7A Primus | 108–117 | 75–82 | 79–102 | 83–86 | 84–79 | 72–86 | 84–74 | 92–95 | 53–80 | 59–81 |
| AICC Manila | | 81–78 | 95–91 | 87–90 | 86–83 | 72–63 | 99–64 | 94–82 | 74–78 | 75–69 |
| Batangas City Athletics | | | 83–86 | 101–96 | 102–88 | 93–99 | 90–77 | 87–93 | 87–72 | 77–83 |
| Burlington EOG Sports | | | | 76–69 | 105–85 | 80–94 | 103–67 | 97–74 | 58–72 | 69–77 |
| Davao Occidental Tigers | | | | | 82–69 | 70–58 | 108–50 | 73–74 | 68–66 | 120–115 |
| FSD Makati Army | | | | | | 68–81 | 103–89 | 88–86 | 64–84 | 81–83 |
| Medical Depot | | | | | | | 85–70 | 76–79 | 65–78 | 69–67 |
| Muntinlupa Defenders | | | | | | | | 91–96 | 70–101 | 66–92 |
| Nueva Ecija Bespren | | | | | | | | | 70–68 | 65–104 |
| Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors | | | | | | | | | | 70–72 |
| San Juan Knights | | | | | | | | | | |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Quarterfinals (Twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Twice-to-beat) | Semifinals (Single game) | Semifinals (Single game) | Semifinals (Single game) | Finals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) | |
| 1 | AICC Manila | 75 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Batangas City Athletics | 65 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Batangas City Athletics | 65 | – | 1 | AICC Manila | 88 | | | | | | |
| | | | | 5 | Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors | 68 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Nueva Ecija | 79 | 66 | 5 | Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors | 68 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors | 99 | 79 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors | 99 | 79 | | | | 1 | AICC Manila | 74 | 74 | 72 | |
| | | | | | | | 3 | San Juan Knights | 80 | 70 | 68 | |
| 2 | Davao Occidental Tigers | 88 | – | | | | | | | | 3 | San Juan Knights | 80 | 70 | 68 |
| 7 | Burlington EOG Sports | 81 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Burlington EOG Sports | 81 | – | 2 | Davao Occidental Tigers | 84 | | | | | | |
| | | | | 3 | San Juan Knights | 85 | | | | | | |
| 3 | San Juan Knights | 88 | – | 3 | San Juan Knights | 85 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Medical Depot | 81 | – | | | | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals
#### (1) AICC Manila vs. (8) Batangas City Athletics

* November 16 4:30PM
* Box Score
AICC Manila 75, Batangas City Athletics 65 :
| Scoring by quarter: 23–21, 16–9, 14–14, 22–21 |||
| Pts: Gabo 16 Rebs: Mabulac 11 Asts: Bitoon 5 | Pts: Viernes 20 Rebs: Arellano 9 Asts: Raymund 4 |
| AICC wins series in one game |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium

#### (2) Davao Occidental Tigers vs. (7) Burlington EOG Sports

* November 17 4:30PM
* Box Score
Davao Occidental Tigers 88, Burlington EOG Sports 81 :
| Scoring by quarter: 24–21, 17–19, 27–25, 23–16 |||
| Pts: Wilson 23 Rebs: Robles 14 Asts: Palencia 5 | Pts: Castro 16 Rebs: Nermal 10 Asts: Castro 4 |
| Davao Occidental wins series in one game |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium

#### (3) San Juan Knights vs. (6) Medical Depot

* November 17 7:10PM
* Box Score
San Juan Knights 88, Medical Depot 73 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–13, 18–11, 25–32, 25–17 |||
| Pts: Abundo 28 Rebs: Gamboa 7 Asts: Abundo 10 | Pts: Cabahug 22 Rebs: two people 10 Asts: Melencio 4 |
| San Juan wins series in one game |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium

#### (4) Nueva Ecija Bespren vs. (5) Sta. Lucia Realtors

* November 16 7:10PM
* Box Score
Nueva Ecija Bespren 79, Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors 99 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–25, 25–26, 19 –26, 15–22 |||
| Pts: Sarao 20 Rebs: Nacpil 10 Asts: Palma 9 | Pts: Arana 25 Rebs: Arana 11 Asts: Costelo 9 |
* Subic Bay Gymnasium
* November 18 5:30PM
* Box Score
Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors 79, Nueva Ecija Bespren 66 :
| Scoring by quarter: 22–13, 18–13, 19–19, 20–21 |||
| Pts: Costelo 18 Rebs: Ablaza 12 Asts: Bautista 4 | Pts: Sarao 14 Rebs: Sarao 10 Asts: Martin 5 |
| Pasig wins series in two games |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium

### Semifinals
#### (1) AICC Manila vs. (5) Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors

* November 19 4:30PM
* Box Score
AICC Manila 88, Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors 68 :
| Scoring by quarter: 24–15, 25–17, 22–24, 17–12 |||
| Pts: Mabulac 15 Rebs: Taganas 8 Asts: Gabo 7 | Pts: Apinan 14 Rebs: Apinan 11 Asts: Ablaza 4 |
| AICC advances to the finals |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium

#### (2) Davao Occidental Tigers vs. (3) San Juan Knights

* November 19 7:10PM
* Box Score
Davao Occidental Tigers 84, San Juan Knights 85 :
| Scoring by quarter: 15–16, 16–24, 27–22, 26–23 |||
| Pts: Celiz 20 Rebs: Robles 14 Asts: Robles 8 | Pts: Wamar 26 Rebs: Ular 7 Asts: Abundo 7 |
| San Juan advances to the finals |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium

### Finals: (1) AICC Manila vs. (3) San Juan Knights
#### Game 1

* November 20 6:00PM
* Box Score
AICC Manila 74, San Juan Knights 80 :
| Scoring by quarter: 14–15, 15–25, 30–18, 15–22 |||
| Pts: Gabo 22 Rebs: Mabulac 7 Asts: Gabo 4 | Pts: Abando 17 Rebs: Clarito 11 Asts: Abundo 6 |
| San Juan leads series, 1–0 |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium

#### Game 2

* November 21 6:00PM
* Box Score
San Juan Knights 70, AICC Manila 74 :
| Scoring by quarter: 16–11, 10–28, 19–15, 25–20 |||
| Pts: Abando 16 Rebs: two people 8 Asts: Abundo 7 | Pts: Bitoon 13 Rebs: Mabulac 10 Asts: Manalang 3 |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium

#### Game 3

* November 22 6:00PM
* Box Score
AICC Manila 72, San Juan Knights 68 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 16–14, 18–12, 21–25 |||
| Pts: Mabulac 18 Rebs: Juico 8 Asts: Gabo 6 | Pts: Abando 17 Rebs: Calma 13 Asts: Abundo 4 |
| AICC wins the series, 2–1 |||
* Subic Bay Gymnasium
Hesed Gabo was declared as the Finals MVP of the tournament.

## Statistical leaders

| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
| Points | Orlan Wamar | San Juan Knights | 199 |
| Field Goals | Emil Renz Palma | Nueva Ecija Bespren | 72 |
| 3-Point Field Goals | Patrick Jan Cabahug | Medical Depot | 36 |
| Rebounds | Michael Mabulac | AICC Manila | 133 |
| Assists | Alvin Abundo | San Juan Knights | 84 |
| Blocks | Simon David Camacho | Medical Depot | 39 |
| Steals | Emil Renz Palma | Nueva Ecija Bespren | 28 |

## Professional status dispute

League organizers have stated that FilBasket at that time is amateur league and that there are plans to turn professional in future tournaments. This, however, has been disputed by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), contending that FilBasket is a professional league hence it should fall under its jurisdiction. Although the organizers were able to push through with the Subic Championship, after the tournament concluded in November, the GAB issued a cease and desist order against FilBasket, once again contending the league's status and ruling the tournament as "unlawful".

### Resolution

On January 19, 2022, the GAB declared it would not pursue legal action but noted that it will continue to monitor the league. FilBasket organizers then subsequently submitted its intention to start the transition to professional status, which would be granted on February 23, 2022, in time for the league's next tournament: the 2022 Summer Championship.