Muntinlupa Cagers

The Muntinlupa Cagers, also known as Muntinlupa Cagers – Elburg Shipmanagement Paramount Logistics Inc. for sponsorship reasons, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in Muntinlupa. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. They are one of three teams based in Metro Manila's Southern District and play their home games at Muntinlupa Sports Center.

Muntinlupa Cagers
2024 Muntinlupa Cagers season
League	MPBL (2018–present)
Founded	2018; 6 years ago (2018)
History	Muntinlupa Cagers 2018–present (MPBL) Muntinlupa Angelis Resort 2022 (FilBasket)
Arena	Muntinlupa Sports Center
Location	Muntinlupa
Team colors
Main sponsor	Elburg Shipmanagement Paramount Logistics Inc.
Head coach	Mixson Ramos

The team is one of the league's charter members, first established for the 2018 MPBL season, where they also made their only Finals appearance to date. The team also took part in FilBasket.

History

2018–2019: Initial success and Finals appearance

The Muntinlupa Cagers were founded in 2018 as one of the MPBL's ten charter teams for the 2018 season. The Cagers experiences immediate success, finishing with a 6–3 record. Muntinlupa claimed the third seed and first swept Navotas in the Quarterfinals. They then had the Parañaque Patriots, who were coming off an upset against second-seeded Bulacan. Parañaque would win the first game of the series, but Muntinlupa, who were led by the likes Chito Jaime, Felix Apreku, and Allan Mangahas, took the next two games to advance to the 2018 MPBL Finals against the Batangas City Athletics.^[1] Unfortunately, Muntinlupa went on to lose the series in four games, making Batangas City the league's inaugural champions.

Muntinlupa continued their winning prowess in the 2018–19 season, keeping the same core players and once again claiming third seed in the South Division with a 15–10 record. Their playoff run was cut short, however, as the Cagers would lose to sixth-seeded Zamboanga in the First Round.

2020–present: Rebuild

Heading into the 2019–20 season, most of its core players left the team, with Jaime moving to Bataan, Apreku moving to Pampanga, and Mangahas moving to Biñan City. The Cagers, now led by GJ Ylagan, struggled, and only finished with seven wins in the 30-game season, which ranked the team 13th in the South. 2022 also wasn't a winning season for Muntinlupa, finishing with a 6–15 record, but just barely made the playoff picture by ranking 8th in the South. The team would then lose to Zamboanga once again in the First Round.

Muntinlupa then rebuilt its roster for the 2023 season. With the acquisitions of collegiate players John Amores and JL Delos Santos, as well as former Davao Occidental member Marco Balagtas, the Cagers rose to a 16–12 record, ranking sixth in the South. Muntinlupa will be facing against the third-seeded GenSan Warriors in the First Round.

Current roster

Muntinlupa Cagers roster v t e
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G 0 Moralde, Dave 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1993–01–11 UP Diliman F 3 Flores, Alfred 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) C 4 Cabeguin, Lloyd (HG) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) F 5 Guiab, Joshua 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) José Rizal G 6 Marcos, Joshua Miguel 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) St. Benilde G 7 Batac, Warlo James 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) G 9 Cuevas, Jasper 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) UPHSD G 11 Vento, Jared Loi 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) F 14 Panganiban, Ryann Louis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) F 16 Bongay, Errol Jay 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) José Rizal F 18 De Leon, Marj Wayne 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) G 21 Arpia, Larry 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) San Sebastian F 22 Davis, Taine Mitchell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) St. Benilde G 23 Sombrero, Jethro 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Diliman F 24 Capacio, Gabriel Martin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) De La Salle C 25 Arenal, Ryan Jay 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) José Rizal G 27 Longalong, Jasper 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Adamson 71 Buenaflor, Kevin G 74 Del Rosario, Lyndon 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) G 77 Acidre, Rocky 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Arellano F 95 Catarbas, Jomar 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) G 99 Gonzales, Niccolo (HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Head coach Mixson Ramos Assistant coach(es) Alex Callueng JR Villanueva Legend (HG) Homegrown (FF) Filipino-foreigner (SGL) Special Guest Licensee   Injured Roster – via Genius Sports Updated as of: April 10, 2024

Head coaches

#	Name	Term	Ref.
1	Aldrin Morante	2018–2018–19
2	Aldin Ayo	2018–19
3	Jack Azcueta	2019
4	Richie Melencio	2019
5	Dave Moralde	2019
6	Bonnie Garcia	2019–20
7	Louie Gonzalez	2020–21
8	Jules Hidalgo	2022
9	Vincent Salvador	2022
10	Jack Azcueta	2023
11	Aldrin Morante	2023
12	Mixson Ramos	2024–present

Notable players

Muntinlupa Cagers notable players
Player	Position	Tenure	Awards	All-Star
Allan Mangahas		2018–2019	1x All-MPBL First Team (2019)	1 (2019)
GJ Ylagan		2018–2020 2023	—	1 (2020)
Biboy Enguio		2019–2023	—	1 (2022)
John Amores		2023	—	1 (2023)
Marco Balagtas		2023	—	1 (2023)
JL Delos Santos		2023	—	1 (2023)

Season-by-season records

	League champions
	Division champions
	Qualified for playoffs
	Best regular season record

Season	Regular season							Playoffs
	Division	Finish	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Stage	Results
Muntinlupa Cagers
2018 Rajah Cup	—^[a]	3rd	9	6	3	.667	2	Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	won vs. Navotas, 2–0 won vs. Parañaque, 2–1 lost vs. Batangas City, 1–3
2018–19 Datu Cup	South	3rd	25	15	10	.600	5	First Round	lost vs. Zamboanga, 1–2
2019–20 Lakan Season	South	13th	30	7	23	.233	19	Did not qualify
2022	South	8th	21	6	15	.286	12	First Round	lost vs. Zamboanga, 0–2
2023	South	6th	28	16	12	.571	7	First Round	lost vs. General Santos, 1–2
2024	South	To be determined
All-time regular season record			113	50	63	.442		4 playoff appearances
All-time playoff record			17	7	10	.412		1 Finals appearance
All-time overall record			130	57	73	.438		0 championships

Notes

1. The 2018 season had no division alignment.

References

1. "Muntinlupa pulls away late to finish off Paranaque and seal MPBL finals duel vs Batangas". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2023-10-18.