2022 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards season explained

Mpblyear:2022
Team:Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards
Team2:Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards
Championshipwin:y
Divisionwin:y
Coach:Jerson Cabiltes
Arena:Nueva Ecija Coliseum
Wins:21
Losses:0
Division Place:1
Division:North
Playoffs:MPBL champions
Prevseason:2019–20
Nextseason:2023

The 2022 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards season was the second season of the franchise in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).

The Rice Vanguards sought to improve from their previous 10–20 campaign. On July 5, they would play in their inaugural home game, in which they would equalize their previous season's record in win percentage.[1] They would then surpass that with their eighth win on July 12.[2] Showing dominance across the board, the 2022 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards became the first team in league history to achieve a regular season sweep. This came following their 21st win against the Batangas City Embassy Chill at home on October 7.[3]

Nueva Ecija began their playoff campaign with sweeps against Marikina and Pampanga before facing the San Juan Knights in the North Division finals.[4] [5] In game 1, San Juan dealt Nueva Ecija their first loss of the entire season before the Rice Vanguards would then win the next two games to advance to the 2022 national finals against the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines.[6] After winning the first two games, the team would lose game 3, but eventually seal the championship with a game 4 victory.[7]

The team played all of their home games at Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan.

Preseason

Nueva Ecija was one of 22 teams that took part in the 2021 MPBL Invitational. They would reach the finals against the Basilan Jumbo Plastic, who they would lose to in overtime.

Schedule

2021 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards Invitational schedule
StageGameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecordRecap

<

-- Group stage -->
Group stage1December 12 W 99–92 1–0
2December 16 W 100–77 SM Mall of Asia Arena 2–0
3December 19 W 88–85 SM Mall of Asia Arena 3–0
4December 20 W 84–72 SM Mall of Asia Arena 4–0
PlayoffsQFDecember 21 Iloilo W 84–67 SM Mall of Asia Arena 5–0
SFDecember 22 W 82–76 SM Mall of Asia Arena 6–0
FDecember 23 Basilan L 80–83 SM Mall of Asia Arena 6–1
Source: Schedule

Regular season

Schedule

2022 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards season schedule
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecordRecap

<

-- Games 1–7 -->
1May 23 W 98–68 Bahayang Pag-asa Sports Complex 1–0
2June 4 W 95–83 2–0
3June 7 W 84–43 3–0
4June 13 W 107–81 Batangas City Coliseum 4–0
5June 18 W 93–77 Caloocan Sports Complex 5–0
6July 2 W 87–79 Orion Sports Complex 6–0
7July 5 W 109–79 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 7–0
8July 12 W 81–75 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 8–0
9July 18 W 81–74 9–0
10July 19 W 68–61 La Salle Coliseum 10–0
11July 26 W 87–76 Paco Arena 11–0
12July 30 W 79–65 Caloocan Sports Complex 12–0
13August 8 W 81–76 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 13–0
14August 15 W 99–77 14–0
15August 23 W 102–85 Batangas City Coliseum 15–0
16August 29 W 83–64 16–0
17September 13 W 85–58 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 17–0
18September 19 W 103–86 Caloocan Sports Complex 18–0
19September 23 W 80–74 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 19–0
20September 28 W 77–66 Laguna Sports Complex 20–0
21October 7 W 84–72 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 21–0
Source: Schedule

Playoffs

Schedule

2022 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards playoff schedule
RoundGameDateOpponentScoreLocationSeriesRecap

<

-- Division Quarterfinals -->
Division quarterfinals1October 15 W 103–71 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 1–0Recap
2October 22 Marikina W 82–71 2–0Recap
Division semifinals1November 7 W 104–89 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 1–0Recap
2November 11 Pampanga W 89–84 2–0Recap
Division finals1November 18 L 72–79 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 0–1Recap
2November 21 San Juan W 89–83 1–1Recap
3November 25 San Juan W 84–68 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 2–1Recap
National finals1December 2 W 81–75 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 1–0Recap
2December 5 Zamboanga W 75–74 Nueva Ecija Coliseum 2–0Recap
3December 9 Zamboanga L 65–75 Mayor Vitaliano D. Agan Coliseum 2–1Recap
4December 12 Zamboanga W 69–56 Mayor Vitaliano D. Agan Coliseum 3–1Recap
Source: Schedule

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2022-07-06 . Nueva Ecija makes it seven straight MPBL wins at expense of Laguna . 2024-03-15 . Spin.ph . en.
  2. Web site: Luarca . Roy . 2022-07-13 . MPBL: Nueva Ecija wards off San Juan; Muntinlupa, Quezon City score wins . 2024-03-15 . Philstar.com.
  3. Web site: Times . Tiebreaker . 2022-10-08 . MPBL: Nueva Ecija completes 21-game elims sweep . 2023-03-11 . Tiebreaker Times . en-US.
  4. Web site: 2022-10-23 . MPBL: Bataan survives Pampanga in OT for QF decider as Nueva Ecija cruises to semis . 2024-03-15 . Tiebreaker Times . en-US.
  5. Web site: 2022-11-12 . MPBL: Nueva Ecija, San Juan forge North Finals showdown . 2024-03-15 . Tiebreaker Times . en-US.
  6. News: December 2, 2022 . Nueva Ecija clinches MPBL North division crown . November 26, 2022 . Rappler.
  7. News: December 12, 2022 . Nueva Ecija finishes off Zamboanga in Game 4 to lift MPBL trophy . December 13, 2022 . spin.ph.