| Davao Occidental Tigers | |
| Current: | 2024 Davao Occidental Tigers season |
| League: | MPBL (2018–2020, 2024–present) FilBasket (2021) PSL (2021–present) |
| History: | Davao Occidental Tigers 2018–present |
| Arena: | University of Southeastern Philippines Gymnasium & Cultural Center RMC–Petro Gazz Arena Davao City Recreation Center RDR Gymnasium |
| Location: | Davao Occidental |
| Sponsor: | United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corporation |
| Coach: | Manu Iñigo |
| League Champs: | MPBL 1 (2021) |
| Conf Champs: | MPBL: 2 (2019, 2020–21) |
Davao Occidental Tigers, also known as Davao Occidental Tigers – Cocolife due to sponsorship reasons, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the province of Davao Occidental. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League as a member of the league's South Division. They are the lone team based in the Davao Region.
The franchise was founded as an expansion team in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) for its 2018–19 season.[1] [2] Following their title in the 2021 MPBL finals, they moved to the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) and became one of its founding members, before returning to the MPBL in 2024.
Despite being based in Davao Occidental, the team hasn't played any home games within the province. Instead, the team plays in arenas across Davao Region, more specifically the Metro Davao area.
The Davao Occidental Tigers are one of the more successful home-and-away teams in the country, with four finals appearances across both the MPBL and PSL. Of those four appearances, the Tigers won the 2021 MPBL finals and the 2022 Pilipinas Super League finals.
Davao Occidental Tigers were established in 2018 as an expansion team in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. The Tigers were one of three teams to be based in Mindanao at the time, alongside General Santos and Zamboanga. The team led by Mark Yee saw immediate success, clinching the South Division's top seed with a 20–5 record.
In the playoffs, Tigers swept Cebu City in the First Round, as well as Bacoor City in the division semifinals. In the South Division finals, they met the defending champion Batangas City Athletics. Although Batangas City forced a game 3 in overtime, the series was won by Davao Occidental and they faced San Juan Knights in the 2019 MPBL finals. The series went back-and-forth with both teams alternating wins, all coming down to a winner-take-all game in Davao City. Tigers led by three points heading into the last minute, however, Jhonard Clarito scored four consecutive points for San Juan as Davao Occidental lost the game and the series by a single point.
Looking to come back after a stunning finals loss, Davao Occidental kept the same core heading into the 2019–20 season. Once again the team clinched the top seed in the South Division with a record of 26–4. This made Davao Occidental Tigers the first, and currently only, MPBL team to clinch the best division record in back-to-back seasons.
To begin their 2020 playoff campaign, Tigers first beat Bicol in three games. They then met Zamboanga in the division semifinals, with the first game ending up as the lowest-scoring in the MPBL history. Davao Occidental then matched up with Basilan in the South Division finals. With the series tied 1–1, it saw an abrupt ending following the suspension of the playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. When the playoffs continued the following year, multiple Basilan members were tested positive for the virus, thus the series was awarded to Davao Occidental, creating a finals rematch against San Juan. Davao Occidental got their revenge and won the series in four games, thus winning their first league championship in franchise history.
Following their MPBL championship run, Davao Occidental Tigers took part in the inaugural tournament of FilBasket, the 2021 Subic Championship.[3] The team clinched second place in the elimination round with a 7–3 record. After winning against Burlington EOG in the quarterfinals, Tigers experienced déjà vu when they lost to San Juan in the semifinals by a single point.
In 2021, the team became a founding member of the Pilipinas Super League, formally moving from the MPBL. Before their PSL debut, the Tigers secured to participation in the ASEAN Basketball League.[4] Unfortunately, the 2022 season was cancelled due to the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia. Much like their MPBL debut, the lead the PSL with the best record in the 2022 Pearl of the Orient Cup, finishing 13–1.[5] The team then swept both Basilan and Cagayan de Oro on their way to the first PSL championship. In the following 2022–23 DUMPER Cup, Davao Occidental remained among the best teams with the second-best record of the elimination round. The team did suffer losses against Boracay and the Pampanga Royce, before ultimately meeting the Pampanga G Lanterns led by Justine Baltazar. Davao Occidental ended up getting swept as the Lanterns won their first league championship.
On March 29, 2024, Davao Occidental announced that they would return to the MPBL for the 2024 season.
See main article: Davao Occidental Tigers–San Juan Knights rivalry.
Davao Occidental's rivalry against the San Juan Knights began in the MPBL when both teams met in back-to-back national finals series (2019 and 2021). Despite Davao Occidental competing in other leagues since then, both teams would still encounter each other whenever they compete in the same league. As of February 2024, the Davao Occidental Tigers have met the San Juan Knights a total of fifteen times across all leagues.
| Davao Occidental Tigers notable players | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Tenure | Awards | All-Star | ||
| Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League | ||||||
| 2018–2019 | align=left | 1x All-MPBL Second Team (2019) | align=left | 1 (2019) | ||
| 2018–2020 | align=left | 1x Finals Most Valuable Player (2020–21) 2x All-MPBL First Team (2019, 2020) | align=left | 2 (2019, 2020) | ||
| 2024–present | — | align=left | 1 (2024) | |||
| 2024–present | — | align=left | 1 (2024) | |||
| Pilipinas Super League | ||||||
| Emman Calo | 2022–2023 | align=left | 1x Finals Most Valuable Player (2022) | — | ||
| 2022–2023 | align=left | 1x PSL Mythical Team (2022) | — | |||
| Gab Dagangon | 2022–2023 | align=left | 1x Most Valuable Player (2022) 1x PSL Mythical Team (2022) | — | ||
| 2022–2023 | align=left | 1x Most Valuable Player (2023) 1x PSL Mythical Team (2023) | — | |||
| Kyt Jimenez | 2022–2023 | — | align=left | 1 (2023) | ||
| Michole Solera | 2022–2023 | — | align=left | 1 (2023) | ||
| League champions | ||
| Division champions | ||
| Qualified for playoffs | ||
| Best regular season record |
| Season | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results | |
| Davao Occidental Tigers | |||||||||
| 2018–19 Datu Cup | 1st | 25 | 20 | 5 | – | Division semifinals Division Finals National finals | won vs. Cebu City, 2–0 won vs. Bacoor City, 2–0 lost vs. San Juan, 2–3 | ||
| 2019–20 | South | 1st | 30 | 26 | 4 | – | Division semifinals Division Finals National finals | won vs. Bicol, 2–1 won vs. Zamboanga, 2–0 won vs. San Juan, 3–1 | |
| colspan=10 | |||||||||
| South | To be determined | Qualified for playoffs | |||||||
| All-time regular season record | 46 | 9 | 3 playoff appearances | ||||||
| All-time playoff record | 17 | 7 | 2 finals appearances | ||||||
| All-time overall record | 63 | 16 | 1 championship | ||||||
| Season | Elimination round | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results | |
| Davao Occidental Tigers | ||||||||
| 2022 | 1st | 14 | 13 | 1 | – | Semifinals Finals | won vs. Basilan, 2–0 won vs. Cagayan de Oro, 2–0 | |
| 2022–23 DUMPER Cup | 2nd | 15 | 12 | 3 | 3 | Semifinals Finals | won vs. Boracay, 1–1 won vs. Pampanga Royce, 2–1 | |
| 2023–24 | 6th | 18 | 13 | 5 | 4 | First round Quarterfinals | won vs. Misamis Oriental, 1–0 lost vs. Nueva Ecija, 1–1 | |
| All-time elimination round record | 38 | 9 | 3 playoff appearances | |||||
| All-time playoff record | 9 | 5 | 2 finals appearances | |||||
| All-time overall record | 47 | 14 | 1 championship | |||||