THE Davao Occidental Tigers Cocolife expects an uphill battle when it clashes against defending champion Batangas City Athletics in Game 1 of the South Division Finals of the 2018-2019 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Datu Cup set today at the Almendras Gym Davao City Recreation Center.

Gametime is at 7 p.m. in the free admission event.

Dabawenyo Tigers assistant coach Arvin Bonleon, in a phone interview with SunStar Davao yesterday, said, “Batangas is a well-balanced team although parehas lang pud sa Davao Occidental pero sila may defending champion, expect namo nga kusog gihapon sila (Batangas is a well-balanced team like Davao Occidental but we expect a tough game against them being the defending champion).”

Davao Occidental, however, has not lost a single game at homecourt. Thus, Bonleon said they want to keep it that way even after tonight’s game.

“Crucial ang game 1, dapat makuha namin kasi ang Game 2 sa homecourt na ng Batangas,” he said, adding that the players are healthy and ready to play.

The team arrived Tuesday evening and took a day off yesterday. They will hold team practice at 9 a.m. today at DCRC.

Tigers’ first five Bonbon Custodio, Billy Robles, Leo Najorda, Bogs Raymundo and Mark Yee are expected to lead the charge for the Don Dulay-coached squad, which outlasted Batangas, 71-70, in their last encounter on February 9, 2019.

Davao Occidental swept all its last five games while Batangas lost twice in their past five outings.

Bonleon added, “Last five wins to go nalang para mag-champ kami sana wala na kaming talo.”

Batangas guards Lester Alvarez and Ryan Briones, who, according to Bonleon, set up their shooters, will be under tight watch.