MANILA – Iloilo United Royals-Cocolife upgraded its frontcourt with the acquisition of forward Vince Tolentino at the start of 2023 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) trading period.
The United Royals secured the services of Tolentino from defending champions Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards in exchange for guard Aldeo Lucero, according to team president JJ Javelosa.
“Vince is a welcome addition to our frontline,” Javelosa told Panay News on Monday. “We are glad that Nueva Ecija has agreed to trade Vince to us because we really wanted to add size to our forward position.”
“I believe that Vince has the potential if given the opportunity to play, he is a former UAAP champion and also a former PBA player,” he added. “We can assure that he will be utilized here at Iloilo.”
Tolentino was a former standout of Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles under head coach Tab Baldwin in UAAP and was able to play for a few years in the PBA with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Tolentino also became part of Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas 3×3 basketball team before moving to the MPBL earlier this season with the Rice Vanguards but was unable to get playing time.
In five games he played with the Rice Vanguards, the former Blue Eagles forward averaged 1.8 points, three rebounds, 0.6 assist and 0.2 steals in almost 11 minutes of action.
Lucero, on the other hand, normed 6.1 points, 1.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.1 blocks in almost 12 minutes of action in the nine games that he played for the United Royals.
“Aldeo was one of our hard working players. The team actually has no plans to trade him but we think it is a logical move since he will play for Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, which is also handled by coach Jerson (Cabiltes of Nueva Ecija),” Javelosa said.
Aside from Tolentino, the United Royals have also signed up two free agent players in Andrey Armenion and Edsel Mag-isa. The squad, however, parted ways with center Joe Joven./PN
