Ronald Pascual steals limelight from Calvin Abueva

MANILA— San Sebastian’s hardworking forward Calvin Abueva may be the pacesetter in the Most Valuable Player derby, but it was teammate, Ronald Pascual, who shone  brightest in the biggest game of the Stags in the first round last Friday.

The 6-foot-2 guard fired 23 points to lead the Stags to a 70-68 decision of defending champion San Beda and a nine-game sweep of the 87th NCAA basketball tournament first round at the FilOil Flying V Arena.

For his exploits, Pascual was named the Accel 3XVI NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Gatorade.

With Abueva in foul trouble and given the go-signal by rookie coach Topex Robinson to attack at will, Pascual took the cudgels for the Stags, scoring on drives and perimeter baskets to help his team finally end the Lions’ historic 26-game winning streak.

Pascual’s two straight triples boosted the Stags to a nine-point lead in the first half, before his three free throws down the stretch gave San Sebastian the cushion to hold off San Beda.

“Coach told me to create when our plays were broken up,” said Pascual, who was part of the team that won the title in 2009, but got swept by San Beda in last year’s finals.

“After all those losses last year, we really wanted to win against San Beda and I’m happy that I was able to contribute.”

The energetic Abueva leads the MVP race with an average of 59 statistical points, after flashing a more well-rounded game this season. He has jacked up his numbers to a league-leading 20.4 points per game, 11.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

Abueva would have jacked up more statistical points but for his league-leading norm of 5.8 turnovers.

Another San Sebastian player, Ian Sangalang, is second with 54.4 SPs, built on averages of 16.1 points and 10.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks.

Surprisingly, Letran sophomore Raymond Almazan ranks third with 47.2 SPs, after the 6-foot-7 center averaged 8.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in nine games in the first round. His teammate Jam Cortes is fourth 46.6 SPs.

Pascual rounded out the Top 5 with 46.1 SPs, after posting averages of 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists.