The 1980 Toyota Tamaraws season was the sixth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Colors (dark) (light) Summary During the off-season, the team signed rookies Leopoldo Herrera and Eduardo Merced, both players were from their farm team Frigidaire/MAN Diesel in the MICAA. 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 reinforced the squad. Toyota started the Open Conference by winning eight of their first nine games, losing only to defending champion Royal Tru-Orange. After 18 games in the elimination round, the Tamaraws were at first place with 15 wins and three losses. In the semifinal round, the Tamaraws were tied with Crispa Walk Tall and U/Tex with four wins and two losses. 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. 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. The Wranglers won by one point, 99-98 in the extension period. The Second Conference Invitational features foreign squads Nicholas Stoodley of United States and Adidas Rubberworld of France. Toyota won their last three matches to march into the finals against Nicholas Stoodley. The Tamaraws needed to win by at least seven points against Crispa Walk Tall Jeans in their last assignment and they did just that in a 116–109 victory. In the best-of-three title series, the Tamaraws got blanked by the Americans. For the third time in the season, the Tamaraws ended up bridesmaid and placed runner-up in all three conferences of the year, duplicating the same feat back in 1976. Crispa Redmanizers' domination in the All-Filipino Conference had Toyota behind Crispa in the team standings during the eliminations, quarterfinals and semifinal phase and they lost to the Redmanizers in four games in the best-of-five championship series. Notable dates March 16: Opening before one of the biggest crowds to attend at the Araneta Coliseum, the league's 6th season also introduced the three-point