San Mig caging pays tribute to Alegre

Organizers of the Inaugural 2008 PILCOWA-San Miguel Beer Basketball League honored the late Rick Alegre during the competition’s opening ceremony Sunday at the CIC Center Basketball Court in Garapan.

Alegre died early this year due to cardiac arrest. He was playing for Aqua Resort Club in the 2nd Annual HANMI Cup Inter-Hotel Basketball League at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium when he had a heart attack during a break in their game against Hyatt.
He was 39.

San Miguel league organizer and longtime Samahang Ilokano and Pangasinense teammate Fando Muleta said they dedicated the inaugural caging to Alegre, who played in various leagues and tournaments on Saipan and made his marks in the CNMI basketball.

“He was a team player, a very good motivator to his teammates and even his foes, and a leader,” Muleta said.

“If that fateful incident did not happen, he would have been playing in our inaugural league or he would have help us running this league, Muleta added.

The Pilipino Contract Workers Association, Inc. awarded a plaque of recognition and a ball to Rick’s son—Ric-Ric—to express its appreciation to the former national player.

Besides playing for Filipino-organized leagues, Alegre suited up for the CNMI National Team in the 2002 Micronesian Games in Pohnpei and the 2003 Micronesian Basketball Tournament in Koror, Palau.

He won numerous championships with SIP and Keeraku. His last championship was with Rock Steady in the 2007 BANMI Budweiser Cup, helping his team beat the Saipan Stevedore Suns in the finals, 92-78.

Meanwhile, Muleta said the San Miguel caging will be holding only one game every Thursday and two matches on Saturdays and Sundays.

Game time every Thursday will start at 6:30pm, while Sundays and Saturdays matches will begin at 5pm.

Seven teams are competing for the championship in the inaugural caging, namely Century Insurance, AON Insurance, C&R Distributors, Diamond Auto Care, MIGS, Olivos, and Pacific Trading Corporation.

AON and MIGS won in Sunday’s opener, downing Century Insurance, 103-87, and PTC, 114-77, respectively.

The seven participating squads will be playing in a single-round robin regular season with the No. 1 team automatically advancing to the semifinals. The rest of the field will battle for the last three semis tickets.