Cañaleta replaces injured Dela Cruz in RP basketball team

K.G. Cañaleta, the 6'-5" forward of Air21 Express, will replace injured Tony dela Cruz in the San Miguel-RP team that will compete in the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) men's championship that starts on Thursday, GMANews.TV learned Wednesday afternoon. Dela Cruz suffered a sprain during the team's campaign in the recent FIBA Champions Cup in Tehran, Iran. But the cast on Dela Cruz's ankle is expected to be removed before the team's campaign in the FIBA Asia Men's Championship, the qualifying tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Cañaleta's services was volunteered by Express team manager Lito Alvarez, whose team won't have any game scheduled in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the duration of the SEABA tilt. Meanwhile, RP team coach Chot Reyes said that they expect nothing less than to bag the championship in the SEABA tournament. Reyes said that he wants his team to dominate the opposition in the tournament, especially Thailand, which have a Chinese for a mentor. - GMANews.TV