Wikipedia - Sarangani Marlins
The Sarangani Marlins are a professional basketball team based in the province of Sarangani. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. They are one of two teams based in the Soccsksargen region, the other being the South Cotabato Warriors. The team plays their home games at Sarangani Capitol Gymnasium in Alabel.
The team's first incarnation began play in 1998 as a charter team of the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA). The team was known as the SocSarGen Marlins, then became the Taguig Marlins in 2001 Second Phase upon relocating to Taguig. The Marlins then returned for the MPBL in the 2019–20 season, going by the Soccsksargen Marlins as a nod to its original incarnation. Amidst a restructuring due to the team's game-fixing scandal in 2019, the team's name was changed to its current form.
History
First incarnation (1998–2001)
As one of the most talented teams in the South, the SocSarGen Marlins were able to reach the quarterfinals in the MBA's inaugural season. The Marlins were bannered by veteran PBA campaigners Maximo Delantes and Teroy Albarillo. SocSarGen finished its regular season record with 11 wins as against 11 losses, good for fourth spot in the Southern Conference. The Marlins' hardworking cager Maximo Delantes figured prominently in the MVP race but couldn't make it to the MBA mythical five due to his team's disastrous stints in each of the playoffs.
Coach Biboy Ravanes was replaced by fellow ex-pro Willie Generalao at the Marlins' bench at the start of the 2000 MBA season. SocSarGen was fifth in the standings in the Southern Conference with four wins and eight losses.
In 2001, the team relocated to Taguig and became the Taguig Marlins in the second phase conference. The Marlins finished last in both phases of the 2001 MBA season with a combined record of five wins and 23 losses.
Second incarnation (2019–present)
In the 2019, the Marlins returned to the basketball scene with the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. The team was also relocated back to Mindanao, this time in the Soccsksargen region, joining the GenSan Warriors, which joined the league in the previous season. Heading into the 2019–20 season, the team was named the Soccsksargen Marlins, a nod to its original name and having a full regional scope.
On November 4, 2019, the team was suspended due to game-fixing allegations. Management of the team had to be turned over and the team would later be renamed the Sarangani Marlins. The team, however, finished with only one win out of 30 games, the win came against Quezon City. With a .033 win percentage, the Marlins hold the worst record in league history.
In the 2021 MPBL Invitational, the team was drawn into Group C, but failed to make the playoff tournament, only getting one win against Muntinlupa. The team would make a push in the 2022 season, with players like Kit Jimenez, the team was able to finish with the third-best record in the South Division with a 16-5 record. Jimenez would also record the league's first quaruple-double late in the regular season. The Marlins would unfortunately lose in an upset against sixth-seeded Rizal in the First Round of the 2022 playoffs.
For the 2023 season, Jeff Viernes would join the team. Viernes then recorded the league's first 50-point game in a win against Nueva Ecija.