Deservedly so
Kevin Quiambao, La Salle’s do-it-all forward, headed into Game 1 of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball Finals against University of the Philippines (UP) Wednesday night decorated with his latest accolade.
After winning the top rookie award last season and then the league’s highest individual honor this year, Quiambao later on declared that he’s far from done.
Leading the Green Archers throughout their Season 86 campaign including two triple-double performances, Quiambao was hailed as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) just before La Salle opened the best-of-three series at Mall of Asia Arena.
“For me, I became more motivated after knowing that I am officially an MVP. [But my] main goal is the championship,” Quiambao told the Inquirer in Filipino a few hours before clashing with the Maroons. “It is here in Game 1 where I start to figure out how I’ll approach the game and how we’ll play as a group.”
The La Salle cornerstone led the statistical points (SP) race with 97.0 after 14 games. In the second round, Quiambao spearheaded a bounce back 88-78 win against National University with 17 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
“For everyone who’s watching, I will continue to inspire and show them that I’m not done and that I’ll still achieve more even after what I’ve shown this season,” Quiambao said.
The newly-minted MVP also helped extend La Salle’s dominance of University of the East (UE) after piling up 17 points, 19 rebounds and 12 assists in an 86-76 second round win.
“[The award is both a source] of pressure and motivation, but I am focusing on being more motivated for my teammates who are the reasons for me achieving this as well as the [team] system and the coaching staff,” Quiambao added.
“I am so happy that after eight seasons that [foreign student-athletes] won the MVP, I surpassed my dream and my dream for La Salle,” he said. “[Now] that it’s official, it’s time to focus on the bigger picture.”
The sophomore powerhouse, who was instrumental in the Archers’ return to the Finals for the first time since 2017, was the first local player to be named MVP since Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena in 2015.
But considering the tough challenge and pressure ahead of the Archers, Quiambao has to block out the noise and put all his focus to getting a crucial advantage against the Maroons after Game 1.
University of the East’s Rey Remogat was second with an average of 85.929, graduating Archer Evan Nelle third at 77.538, Season 85 MVP Malick Diouf of UP came in fourth with 74.769 and Far Eastern guard L-Jay Gonzales rounded out the top five with 66.857.
The top five also made up the league’s Mythical Five even as UP’s Francis Lopez was also recognized as Rookie of the Year.
Meanwhile, University of Santo Tomas (UST) moved within another win of ending National University’s (NU) seven-year reign in the UAAP women’s basketball.
The Golden Tigresses accomplished two things after a 76-72 win against the Bulldogs: Moving closer to the championship while also ending a 20-game losing streak against NU.
“So happy that finally we got a win against NU, which is the most important because this is the championship series,” UST coach Haydee Ong said. “Thank you to the girls [who] really worked hard for this [as well as] the whole team.
“Until the last second where NU could’ve come back, [the Tigresses] kept their composure.”
That composure manufactured 16 steals and 27 points off turnovers for UST before holding off any last ditch efforts by NU in the stretch.
Kent Pastrana’s 15 points, six rebounds and four steals and Ana Tacatac’s 14 points and two steals while Brigette Santos and Nikki Villasin combined for 22 points in leading the Tigresses.
