The 2019–20 Basilan Steel season was the second season of the franchise in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).

The Steel were able to improve from their previous campaign after snatching their ninth win on September 17, surpassing their 7–18 record in win percentage. They would then win 11 of the remaining 13 games to finish the season 20–10 and finish as the third seed in the South Division.

Their playoff run began with a sweep against Iloilo followed by a 2–1 series victory over Bacoor City. In the division finals against the Davao Occidental Tigers, Basilan would win game 1 against the reigning division champions on opposing grounds before the Tigers tied the series in game 2. Following the one-year suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, game 3 was originally scheduled for March 10, 2021, but was postponed by a week due to a player being tested positive for the virus. By March 17, multiple members of the Basilan team had also been tested positive, thus the league decided to rule them out of the series, abruptly ending their season. Davao Occidental would eventually become champions in the national finals. Following the controversial ruling, the team moved to the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup in 2021, then the Pilipinas Super League in 2022 before ultimately returning to the MPBL in 2025.

All of the team's home games this season were played at the Lamitan Capitol Gymnasium in Lamitan.

Regular season

Standings

Schedule 2019–20 Basilan Steel season schedule Game Date Opponent Score Location Record Recap 1 June 12 Bicol W 94–83 SM Mall of Asia Arena 1–0 2 June 26 Pampanga W 83–74 Valenzuela Astrodome 2–0 3 July 2 Bulacan L 55–65 Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium 2–1 4 July 9 Marikina W 86–83 San Andres Sports Complex 3–1 5 July 16 Batangas City L 89–101 Valenzuela Astrodome 3–2 6 July 19 Biñan City L 78–94 Alonte Sports Arena 3–3 7 July 24 Valenzuela W 87–78 Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium 4–3 8 August 2 Iloilo W 78–74 Pasig Sports Center 5–3 9 August 8 Mindoro W 105–89 Caloocan Sports Complex 6–3 10 August 15 Makati L 80–86 Caloocan Sports Complex 6–4 11 August 20 Navotas W 113–94 Batangas City Coliseum 7–4 12 September 2 Muntinlupa W 90–79 Filoil Flying V Centre 8–4 13 September 13 San Juan L 86–89 Olivarez College 8–5 14 September 17 Imus W 98–85 Angeles University Foundation 9–5 15 September 21 Davao Occidental L 71–76 La Salle Coliseum 9–6 16 October 2 Manila L 65–66 Valenzuela Astrodome 9–7 17 October 5 Zamboanga L 78–83 Rizal Memorial Colleges 9–8 18 October 9 Caloocan W 82–70 Olivarez College 10–8 19 October 23 Bacoor City W 92–90 Strike Gymnasium 11–8 20 October 30 Quezon City W 86–78 Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium 12–8 21 November 16 Nueva Ecija W 93–81 Lamitan Capitol Gymnasium 13–8 22 November 28 General Santos W 85–79 Lagao Gymnasium 14–8 23 December 14 Sarangani W 85–80 Santa Rosa Sports Complex 15–8 24 December 19 Bataan L 83–91 Bataan People's Center 15–9 25 January 7 Pasig W 89–83 Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium 16–9 26 January 11 Bacolod L 89–96 Filoil Flying V Centre 16–10 27 January 14 Cebu W 86–78 San Andres Sports Complex 17–10 28 January 27 Rizal W 103–85 Ynares Center 18–10 29 January 31 Pasay W 74–59 Cuneta Astrodome 19–10 30 February 7 Parañaque W 89–71 Marikina Sports Center 20–10 Source: Schedule

Playoffs

Schedule 2020 Basilan Steel playoffs schedule Round Game Date Opponent Score Location Series Recap Division Quarterfinals 1 February 19 Iloilo W 83–68 Strike Gymnasium 1–0 2 February 24 Iloilo W 70–63 Lamitan Capitol Gymnasium 2–0 Division Semifinals 1 March 2 Bacoor City W 77–63 Davao City Recreation Center 1–0 2 March 5 Bacoor City L 69–80 Strike Gymnasium 1–1 3 March 7 Bacoor City W 84–76 Strike Gymnasium 2–1 Division finals 1 March 9 Davao Occidental W 74–72 Davao del Norte Sports Complex 1–0 2 March 11 Davao Occidental L 76–81 Lamitan Capitol Gymnasium 1–1 3 March 17 Davao Occidental L by default Subic Bay Gymnasium 1–2 Source: Schedule Notes

References