MANILA—Emerging from the shadows of his more popular teammates, Josan Nimes has keyed Mapua’s resurgence in the 87th NCAA basketball tournament.
After a quiet start to his NCAA career, the 6-foot-2 swingman raised in Australia has made his presence felt for the Cardinals, who are riding high on a four-game winning run.
Much of the talk during the pre-season surrounded Cardinals playmaker Allan Mangahas and 6-foot-7 center Yousif Taha, but it’s been Nimes who has consistently delivered for the Cardinals in the last four games.
Nimes topscored for the Cardinals with 21 points in the 65-62 win over Perpetual Help last Monday, before again leading his squad with 20 markers in the 80-59 drubbing of Lyceum last Friday.
The victories lifted Mapua to 6-6, giving them solo fourth ahead of Lyceum.
Nimes’ performances earned for him the Accel 3XVI NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week award presented by Gatorade.
“He’s more confident now and its showing in his game,” said Cardinals coach Chito Victolero of the 20-year-old forward.
Meanwhile, the NCAA Management Committee will decide on Jose Rizal U’s protest of Lyceum’s 71-65 victory on Wednesday.
Acting NCAA Mancom chair Ramon Cercado, who is also chancellor of league host Perpetual Help, said JRU cited some non-calls as grounds of its protest.
One particular non-call concerned Lyceum center Jun Napiza who threw a ball at JRU player John Lopez but was only called for a warning. Napiza was suspended after the league reviewed the incident.