Rizal begins revamp by acquiring Eloy Poligrates

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Rizal-Xentro Mall Golden Coolers is eager to bounce back after a disappointing outing in the MPBL Lakan Cup.

Starting the rebuild of the squad is signing Cebuano scoring-machine and ex-PBA veteran, Eloy Poligrates.

A reliable scorer way back his professional years in the PBA, Poligrates continued to torch his defenders in the MPBL and was even named as the 2019 PBA D-League Foundation Cup MVP in his stint with the Marinerong Pilipino.

Despite Poligrates’ inconsistent performance with Cebu and Valenzuela City last year, the Rizal coaching staff still sees something with Poligrates.

Rizal team manager Anj Anzores said that Poligrates’ scoring mentality and experience will already be an advantage for them.

“Signing Eloy is really a big step especially that all teams are rebuilding. Getting him early is an advantage. At least, we already secured a guy that we know will be of great help,” added Anzores.

Aside from Poligrates, Rizal also signed NAASCU Rookie of the Year Nikko Panganiban from Our Lady of Fatima University who averaged 18.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

One of the most hard-working big men in the MPBL, Mark Benitez, is also reinforcing the squad together with Poligrates and Panganiban.