NCAA Finals MVP Arnaud Noah. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
The time San Beda lost its star center Donald Tankoua to a season-ending injury was also the exact same moment Arnaud Noah knew he had to elevate his game.
The Red Lions were rampaging through the competition until Tankoua went down with an ACL injury two games into the second round.
“With the loss of Donald, I thought I should really step up to help the whole team so I tried to do my best in any kind of way whether it’s on defense or offense,” Noah said.
But Noah didn’t make an impact right away and he admitted it wasn’t easy at first trying to adapt to San Beda’s system.
“It was really hard for me to get into the system and plays of coach. So my teammates, all of them, they really helped me.”
Noah wasn’t outstanding but he did enough to help San Beda return to the Finals. He averaged 7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game through the Final Four.
But in the Finals, Noah turned out to be a revelation for the Red Lions.
And in Game 2, the Cameroonian import had his best game of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead his team to the championship with an 83-73 win to complete a sweep of the Arellano Chiefs.
The 23-year-old Noah upped his average to 16 points and 9 rebounds and wound up bagging the Finals MVP.
“I saw my friend really down because of the ACL and he could not play anymore so we really had to work together. So I just stepped up.”