Orly Bauzon, 1968 Olympian and former Toyota cager, passes away at 75

Orlando “Orly” Bauzon, an Olympian and one of the pioneer players of the fabled Toyota franchise in the MICAA and PBA, passed away Saturday due to cardiac arrest. He was 75.
His nephew, Calasiao, Pangasinan mayor Joseph Bauzon, and former Toyota teammate Ramon Fernandez were among those who paid tribute to Bauzon, who represented the country in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
The former University of Santo Tomas standout also won three titles with Toyota in the 1973 MICAA and the PBA’s first two conferences in 1975.
He was also a part of the Philippines’ victory to the 1967 ABC Championship in South Korea under coach Caloy Loyzaga, scoring 12 points in the hard-fought 83-80 win over the host nation in the final.
Bauzon averaged 9.4 points during the team's nine-game sweep of the competition.

The victory earned the country a slot in the 1968 Mexico Games, with Bauzon becoming part of the team that placed 13th overall.
Back home, Bauzon started his MICAA career with Ysmael Steel and Meralco, winning a title in the 1971 Open, before moving to Toyota in 1973.
He and the rest of the Comets enjoyed instant success when they went on a Cinderella title run on its first foray in the MICAA fold.
Fernandez recalled that Bauzon’s last-second shot in the semifinals helped the Comets reach the finals against Concepcion Motorolas.
He also donned the Toyota jersey when the Comets beat the archrival Redmanizers in the first and second conferences of the newly-formed PBA in 1975. The Comets were denied of a Grand Slam after losing to the Redmanizers in the All-Philippine Championship.
Bauzon played two more seasons with the Delta franchise before wrapping up his career with Mariwasa in 1978.
He also coached UST, Adamson and University of the Philippines in the 90's.