Danny Florencio rejoined the Tamaraws after disappearing for the whole of the 1979 season while imports Andrew Fields and Bruce "Sky" King were back to reinforce the squad.
The Wranglers earn the first ticket to the championship round and Toyota had to beat Walk Tall Jeans, 102-100, in a playoff game on July 22 for the right to meet U/Tex in the finals.
[1] The best-of-five title series went into a full route and in the deciding fifth game, the Tamaraws were 16 seconds away in regulation time to win the Open Crown after leading by four points, 94-90, but U/Tex were able to force overtime behind their imports Aaron James and Glenn McDonald, who sank the two free throws that tied the count.
Toyota repulses arch rival Crispa in the second game, 112–107, as Sonny Jaworski came up with three conversions from the three-point area to finish with 22 points.
July 22: Toyota and Crispa dispute the last finals slot and with the capacity crowd of 25,000 fans on hand to watch the do-or-die game, the Tamaraws win in a classic 102–100 victory.