This tournament shall be governed by the current FIBA rules (2004) aside from the house rules set by the organizing committee.

A. CLUB PHILOSOPHY

The officers of the Architects' Basketball Union (ABU) wish to remind its members that ABU is a club created for architects with the following objectives:

1. To provide the opportunity for current and registered architects to play basketball on a regular and organized basis.
2. To provide a venue for continued interaction among architects and sponsor representatives through the sport of basketball.
3. To provide an opportunity for former architecture students, who were actively involved in competitive basketball among architectural schools, to continue to play competitive basketball with their colleagues in the profession.

ABU is first and foremost a club that intends to foster camaraderie among architects who share a common love for the sport of basketball. ABU shall not be misconstrued as a tournament organizer. The members are reminded to uphold the interests of the club over and above his own interests and/or his team's. This philosophy shall govern all aspects of the club, ranging from the individual members' approach in playing the game and attendance in the club's activities, to the conduct of the tournament by the tournament committee, and the officers' manner of governance.

With the club's philosophy set forth, the following Rules and Regulations shall apply in the forthcoming Third Regular Tournament (Invitational Corporate Tournament).

B. TEAM COMPOSITION

1. The composition of each team and the number of teams participating in the forthcoming tournament shall be determined during the Player Lottery held prior to the tournament.

2. A team can have a maximum of twelve (12) players and shall be headed by a Coach and/or Team Captain, both of whom shall be appointed by the members of the team.  A team of eight to ten (8 – 10) ABU regular members is allowed a maximum of two (2) sponsor representatives.  If a team has less than eight (8) ABU regular members, a maximum of three (3) sponsor representatives is allowed.

3. Once the team line-up has been finalized in the Player Lottery, the line-up can no longer be altered upon acceptance by the Technical Committee (see Section D) . No player replacement, addition or substitution shall be allowed thereafter.

C. TOURNAMENT RULES

This tournament shall be governed by the current FIBA rules (2004) aside from the house rules set by the Tournament Committee of ABU.

Conduct of Games

1 . A team bench is allowed to have a maximum of twelve (12) players. Civilians are not allowed to sit on the team bench. Should a team violate this provision, game will not start or will be halted until the infraction is corrected. Failure to comply can lead to eventual loss by forfeiture. Refer to section on Forfeiture. If the guilty party is a non-playing member, he will be asked to transfer to the spectator seating. Refusal will lead to disqualification from the tournament and the accompanying penalty .

2. Only the Coach and/or Team Captain may request for the interpretation of the rules from the floor officials in a calm and courteous manner.

3. No team shall be allowed to warm-up while an official game is in progress.

4. Only one sponsor representative may be fielded at one time.  If two sponsor representatives were found to be playing simultaneously, play will be halted and one of the two sponsor representative shall be asked to be substituted with a regular ABU member.  However, the stint of the second sponsor representative shall not affect or change the result of the game.

5. Each player must be granted playing time. Each player seated on the team bench must play a total of six (6) minutes in the game; three (3) in the first half and another three (3) in the second half. A player who reports to play in the second half will only be required to play a minimum of three (3) minutes in the game. Violation of this rule will result in the awarding of two free throws at the end of each half for each violation per player. If both teams are in violation, free throws will be awarded to both teams

6. Late arrival of players is allowed. No player will be admitted during the second and fourth quarters. A player who reports to play (reporting to play is understood as the time the player includes his name in the official scorebook) in the second quarter must sit out the quarter and can only be fielded in the third quarter. A player who arrives in the fourth quarter will no longer be allowed to play.

7. Game format shall be as follows:
• A regular game shall be divided into four (4) periods with 10 minutes playing time per period. 1st period shall begin with a jump ball at the center of the court.
• There shall be a one (1) minute break between the 1st & 2nd period, and between 3rd & 4th period. There shall be a 10 minute break at the half (between 2nd & 3rd period).
• Each Team shall be given two (2) time-outs at any time in the first half (first and second period), and three (3) time-outs at any time in the second half (third and fourth period). Each time-out shall last one minute long.
• Each team will be allowed 15 minutes from the scheduled time of the start of the game to field five (5) players. Failure to do so within the allotted time will result in a loss by forfeiture.

8. The following are significant FIBA rules (2004) will apply:
• Shot Clock is 24 seconds
• Time required to cross the ball to the half-court line is eight (8) seconds.
• Player Technical Foul - the other team shall be awarded 2 free throws and ball possession.
• Bench/Team Technical Foul - the other team shall be awarded 2 free throws and ball possession.
• A player substitution opportunity begins when the ball becomes dead, the game clock is stopped and the official has ended his communication with the scorer's table.

Restrictions - A substitution shall not be permitted to the scoring team when the game clock is stopped following a successful field goal.

• Time-Outs – Any team can call a time-out during a dead ball situation. In the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter, time out will only be granted to the team that has been “scored against”.

Uniform

1. All players will be required to wear the official ABU 2nd edition team uniform (short & jersey) during all the games. . The ABU 1st edition team uniform will be allowed for members who have not yet been issued their 2nd edition uniform. Players who have not been issued either dark or light 2 nd edition shorts will be allowed to use contrasting jersey and shorts combination as long as the jersey is consistent with the assigned jersey.

2. The home and guest teams shall be pre-assigned to determine which bench to occupy. Home teams will be seated to the left of the scorer's table and the guest teams will be seated to its right.

3. Any player who has played and was found not wearing his proper uniform shall be asked to discontinue playing. However, his stint should not affect or change the result of the game.

Forfeiture

1. A team shall lose the game by forfeiture if it fails to field five (5) players of four (4) regular ABU members and one (1) sponsor representative, fifteen (15) minutes after the scheduled time for start of the game. (Refer to FIBA Rules 2004, Rule 4 - Playing Regulations Art. 20).  A team with three or less regular ABU members present at the start of the game will lose by forfeiture.

2. If both teams failed to field five (5) players (refer to Secion 1 above), both teams lose the game by forfeiture (Refer to FIBA Rules 2004, Rule 4 - Playing Regulations Art. 20) .

3. A team that loses by forfeiture will be penalized with a fine of Php2,500. The fine must be settled before the start of the team's next game. If the forfeiture happens on the last playing day of the next tournament, each member of the team will be billed the individual equivalent before participating in the succeeding tournament's player lottery.

4. Any team that “walks out” of any scheduled game will lose the game by forfeiture and will be penalized in accordance with Section 3 above.

5. A team that wins by forfeiture shall receive a score of twenty (20) points and the losing team shall receive a score of zero (0) points.

6. The clock at the venue shall be the basis for determining start of game and loss by forfeiture.

Technical Foul, Unsportsmanlike Foul

1. As per FIBA rules, a referee can call a technical foul without giving a warning. A player who collects two technical fouls will be ejected from the game (Refer to FIBA Rules 2004, Rule 6 - Fouls Art. 38 & 39) .

2. Any player who initiates the use of fist or feet with the intention to inflict bodily harm (otherwise, known as initiating a fight) will be charged with a disqualifying foul and shall be ejected from the game, penalized with the appropriate fine, and disqualified outright from the tournament. Said player has to pay the appropriate fine to be allowed to participate in the succeeding tournament (Refer to FIBA Rules 2004, Rule 6 - Fouls Art. 37).

3. Any player may be disqualified from the game for verbal/physical abuse directed at any floor official or members of the technical committee.

4. In the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and of the overtime period, any player who fouls an opposing player without possession of the ball will penalized with a technical foul.

5. A player penalized with two (2) technical fouls or (2) un-sportsmanlike fouls or a combination of both shall be ejected from the game, and penalized accordingly (Refer to FIBA Rules 2004, Rule 6 - Fouls Art. 36 & 38) .

6. Only the Coach and/or Team Captain shall be allowed standing during the progress of the game. A technical foul can be charged against the offending team, only after a warning was given.

7. A disqualified player will not be allowed to sit on the bench nor have verbal or visual contact with his team. He will not be allowed to enter the venue of the games. For violation of this rule, the offending team shall lose the game by forfeiture and receive a score of zero (0) points.

8. Ejected player(s) shall be suspended in the next succeeding game of the team. If the infraction was committed in the last game of the tournament, the penalty will be carried out to the next tournament. If committed on the last playing date of the season, penalty shall be carried out on the first playing day of the succeeding season (See Section H Penalties & Fines) .

9. Ejected players, who have served their suspension, will only be allowed to return to play upon payment of the appropriate fine to the technical committee (See Section H Penalties & Fines) .

10. Players disqualified from a current tournament will only be allowed to return to play in another tournament upon payment of the appropriate fine to the technical committee (See Section H Penalties & Fines) .

D. TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

In accordance with the By-Laws of ABU, the Technical Committee shall be composed of the Tournament Commissioner.

The Technical Committee is empowered to make decisions not specifically covered by the tournament rules, and can penalize any member whose action shall be detrimental to the progress of the tournament.

E. PROCEDURE FOR FILING PROTEST

1. To signify that a game is under protest, the Coach and/or Team Captain must sign the scorebook immediately before the floor officials have signed the same.

2. The team concerned must submit a formal written protest to the technical committee within 48 hours after the game.

3. Deposit the amount of equivalent to Php100/per player as cash bond. The same shall be returned in full if the protest is upheld and the same shall be forfeited in favor of the organizing committee if the protest is null and void.

F. FORCE MAJEURE

1. Other than force majeure, scheduled games may be cancelled/reset if schedule falls on a declared holiday, if government offices are closed, or if the owner of the gym where the venue is held has a special activity scheduled on a particular date coinciding with the games of the tournament.

2. If a force majeure occurred in the first half, the game shall be rescheduled from the start of the game.

3. If force majeure occurred in the second half, the game shall be continued at the time it was stopped, and all the scores, the fouls, the time-outs, etc. shall be be carried over to the rescheduled game.

4. All players that are absent/suspended on the time of the force majeure will not be allowed to play on the rescheduled game.

5. All games that are cancelled or reset shall be played before the end of the elimination round.

G. RESOLUTION OF TIE (S) IN TEAM STANDING

The FIBA classification of teams shall take precedence in case of ties.
(Refer to FIBA Rules 2004, D - Classification of Teams)

Procedure

Note: The classification of points shall determined the final placing of teams.

Teams shall be classified according to their win-loss records, namely two (2) points for each game won, one (1) point for each game lost (including lost by default) and zero (0) points for a game lost by forfeit.

1. If there are two teams in the classification with equal points, the result(s) of the game(s) between the two teams involved will be used to determine the placings.

2. If the points and the goal average (quotient system) in the games between the two teams are still the same, the classification will be determined by the goal average of all the games played in the group by each team.

3. If more than two teams are equal in the placings, a second classification will be established, taking into account only the results of the games between the teams that are tied.

4. If there are still teams tied after the second classification, then goal average (quotient system) will be used to determine the placing, taking into account only the results of the games between the teams still tied.

5. If there are still teams tied, the placings will be determined using goal average from the results of all their games played in the group.

6. If, at any stage, using the above criteria, a multiple team tie is reduced to a tie involving only two teams, the procedure in Steps1 and 2 above will be applied.

7. If, at any stage, it is reduced to a tie still involving more than two teams, the procedure, beginning with Step 3 above, is repeated.

8. Goal average will always be calculated by division.

Example:
Two teams - equal points and only one game played between them.

1. The following fines shall apply:
• Two (2) technical fouls or two (2) un-sportsmanlike fouls or a combination of both .......................................................................... Php 500.00
• Disqualifying foul ......................................................................... Php 1,000.00
• Team technical foul ..................................................................... Php 1,100.00 or Php100/player or whichever is greater
• Forfeiture ....................................................................................... Php 2,500.00

2. No player or team shall be allowed to return to play until the appropriate fine/penalty has been settled with the technical committee.

I. TOURNAMENT FORMAT

Elimination Round  
1. The eight (8) participating teams will play one another once in a single round robin elimination round.   

Semi-Final Round
1. The top four teams with the highest classification points after the Elimination round will advance to the Final Four bracket in the Semi-Final Round.  The four teams in the bottom after the Elimination Round will advance to the Classification bracket. 

2.  In the Final Four bracket, the No. 1 ranked team will face the No. 4 ranked team and enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage.  The No. 2 ranked team will face the No. 3 ranked team and likewise have a twice-to-beat advantage.     

3.  In the Classification bracket, the No. 5 ranked team will face the No. 8 ranked team with a twice-to-beat advantage and the No. 6 ranked team will tangle with the No. 7 ranked team likewise with a twice-to-beat advantage.

Championship Round

1. The winners of the two semi-final round games in the Final Four bracket will engage in single game knockout match for the championship. The losers will face one another in the battle for bronze.