Stag Abueva looms as NCAA MVP

MANILA, Philippines—San Sebastian’S do-it-all forward Calvin Abueva looks a cinch to clinch his first Most Valuable Player award in the 87th NCAA basketball tournament.

With the MVP awardee determined by statistics, Abueva, the pride of Pampanga, is expected to grab the top individual award of the season after averaging league-best of 21.5 points and 13.6 rebounds.

The MVP award will be handed out next week during the championship series pitting San Beda against San Sebastian at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Abueva has tallied 18 double-doubles this season, aside from dishing out 3.9 assists in 20 games for the Stags, who ousted Letran in the Final Four to forge a title duel with San Beda.

But the 6-foot-3 workhorse, however, remains focused on powering the Stags to a second title in three years against the Lions in the best-of-three finals starting this Monday.

“Our target is still the championship,” Abueva said in Filipino. “We lost last year and we want to get back at San Beda for that loss.”

Abueva’s closest pursuers include teammate Ian Sangalang, San Beda’s Garvo Lanete and Letran standouts Kevin Alas and Raymond Almazan, who are strong candidates to make up the league’s mythical five.

Sangalang also registered double-digit averages with 16.2 points and 11.4 rebounds.