| Davao Occidental Tigers | |
|---|---|
 2025 Davao Occidental Tigers season | |
 | |
| League | MPBL (2018–2020, 2024–present) FilBasket (2021) PSL (2021–2024) |
| Founded | 2018; 8 years ago (2018) |
| History | Davao Occidental Tigers 2018–present |
| Arena | University of Southeastern Philippines Gymnasium & Cultural Center RMC–Petro Gazz Arena Davao City Recreation Center RDR Gymnasium (All last used in 2019–20) |
| Location | Davao Occidental |
| Team colors | |
| Main sponsor | United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corporation |
| Team manager | Mitzi Santiago |
| Head coach | Arvin Bonleon |
| Team captain | Valandre Chauca | T.H Tumalip |
| Championships | MPBL:1 (2021) PSL:1 (2022) |
| Conference titles | MPBL:2 (2019,2020–21) |
TheDavao Occidental Tigers (also known asDavao Occidental Tigers – Cocolife due to sponsorship reasons) are a Filipino professionalbasketball team based in theDavao metropolitan area and representing the province ofDavao Occidental. The team competes in theMaharlika Pilipinas Basketball League as a member of the league'sSouth Division. The team hasn't played any home games in Davao Occidental, but has played at a variety of venues across Metro Davao.
The franchise was founded as an expansion team in theMaharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) for its2018–19 season.[1][2] Following their title in the2021 MPBL finals, they moved to thePilipinas Super League (PSL) and became one of its founding members, before returning to the MPBL in2024.
The Tigers are one of four teams based inMindanao and the only one from theDavao Region. They are also one of the more successful teams in Philippine regional basketball, with four finals appearances across both the MPBL and PSL. Of those four appearances, the Tigers won the2021 MPBL finals and the2022 Pilipinas Super League finals.
The Tigers are one of five teams based inMindanao and the lone team based inDavao Region.
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 inMindanao at the time, alongsideGeneral Santos andZamboanga. The team led byMark Yee saw immediate success, clinching the South Division's top seed with a 20–5 record.
In the playoffs, Tigers sweptCebu City in the First Round, as well asBacoor City in the division semifinals. In the South Division finals, they met the defending championBatangas 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 the2019 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 the2019–20 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 withBasilan in the South Division finals. With the series tied 1–1, it saw an abrupt ending following the suspension of the playoffs due to theCOVID-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 ofFilBasket, the2021 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 experienceddéjà 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 theASEAN Basketball League.[4] Unfortunately, the 2022 season was cancelled due to the continuing effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia. Much like their MPBL debut, the lead the PSL with the best record in the2022 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 following2022–23 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 thePampanga G Lanterns led byJustine 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 the2024 season.
On May 20, 2025, after a 3-4 start to the Davao Occidental2025 season announced that they would be transitioning into a new era. Under new management, announcing a new interim Head Coach Clive Castillo - an assistant at London Lions - to lead the team in the short term.
Davao Occidental's rivalry against theSan Juan Knights began in the MPBL when both teams met in back-to-back national finals series (2019 and2021). 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 theSan Juan Knights a total of fifteen times across all leagues.
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated as of: March 4, 2025 |
| Davao Occidental Tigers head coaches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Start | End | Achievements | Ref. |
| 1 | Don Dulay | 2018 | 2021 | — | |
| 2 | Matt Makalintal | 2021 | 2021 | — | |
| 3 | Arvin Bonleon | 2022 | 2023 | — | |
| 4 | Jesse James Bartolome | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | — | |
| 5 | Manu Iñigo | 2023–24 | 2025 | — | |
| 6 | Clive Castillo | 2025 | — | ||
| 7 | Arvin Bonleon | 2025 | — | ||
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PSL Finals Most Valuable Player
| PSL Most Valuable Player
| PSL Mythical Team
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| MPBL All-Star head coaches | PSL All-Star selections
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| 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 | South | 1st | 25 | 20 | 5 | .800 | – | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals National finals | won vs. Cebu City, 2–0 won vs. Bacoor City, 2–0 won vs. Batangas City, 2–1 lost vs. San Juan, 2–3 |
| 2019–20 Lakan Season | South | 1st | 30 | 26 | 4 | .867 | – | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals National finals | won vs. Bicol, 2–1 won vs. Zamboanga, 2–0 won vs. Basilan, 2–1 won vs. San Juan, 3–1 |
| Did not participate in2022 and2023 | |||||||||
| 2024 | South | 7th | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 | 6 | Division quarterfinals | lost vs. Batangas City, 0–2 |
| 2025 | South | 9th | 29 | 12 | 17 | .414 | 13 | Clinched play-in; did not qualify playoffs | |
| All-time regular season record | 112 | 73 | 39 | .652 | 3 playoff appearances | ||||
| All-time playoff record | 26 | 17 | 9 | .654 | 2 finals appearances | ||||
| All-time overall record | 138 | 90 | 48 | .652 | 1 championship | ||||
| Season | Elimination round | Playoffs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results | ||
| Davao Occidental Tigers | |||||||||
| 2022 Pearl of the Orient Cup | 1st | 14 | 13 | 1 | .929 | – | Semifinals Finals | won vs. Basilan, 2–0 won vs. Cagayan de Oro, 2–0 | |
| 2022–23 DUMPER Cup | 2nd | 15 | 12 | 3 | .800 | 3 | Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals | won vs. Boracay, 1–1 won vs. Pampanga Royce, 2–1 lost vs. Pampanga G Lanterns, 0–2 | |
| 2023–24 President's Cup | 6th | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 4 | First round Quarterfinals | won vs. Misamis Oriental, 1–0 lost vs. Nueva Ecija, 1–1 | |
| All-time elimination round record | 47 | 38 | 9 | .809 | 3 playoff appearances | ||||
| All-time playoff record | 14 | 9 | 5 | .643 | 2 finals appearances | ||||
| All-time overall record | 61 | 47 | 14 | .770 | 1 championship | ||||
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