Tamaraw sparkplug top MVP contender

He’s the most dominant player in the most dominant team.

Terrence Romeo has emerged as the top contender for the Most Valuable Player plum after powering Far Eastern University to a seven-game sweep of the first round of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament Sunday.

The senior guard, whose lowest production this season was still a remarkable 19 points, amassed 79.0 statistical points (SPs) to edge National University’s Ray Parks, the MVP in the last two seasons.

“I told my teammates that I’m not after any award, I just want us to keep on winning and get the championship,” said Romeo, the 2010 Rookie of the Year.

Romeo led the league both in points scored at 22.6 ppg and steals at 1.4 spg aside from ranking third in assists at 4.1 apg and averaging 6.3 rebounds.

Although Parks has a shot at a record-setting three straight MVPs, he said he’d rather focus on his team’s goal.

Parks ranked second with 76.14 SPs after finishing third in points (18.9 ppg), sixth in rebounds (9.4 rpg) and second both in assists (4.4 apg) and steals (1.3 spg).

University of the East’s Charles Mammie lies third with 74.83 SPs, but the African recruit won’t be eligible for an award after getting slapped with a suspension early in the season.

National U’s Emmanuel Mbe took fourth  with 67.28 SPs (17.1 ppg, 11.9 rpg) followed by UE’s top guard Roi Sumang with 66.14 SPs (19 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4 apg).

Rounding out the top 10 based on the numbers released yesterday by league statistician Imperium Technology and Smart Bro were University of Santo Tomas’ Karim Abdul (62.71 SPs), FEU’s RR Garcia (58.5), Ateneo’s Ryan Buenafe (56.57), Adamson’s Jericho Cruz (56.0) and La Salle’s Jeron Teng (55.71).

The second round of the eliminations starts on Aug. 14 at Smart Araneta Coliseum.