UAAP: Kevin Quiambao relishes showdown with OJ Ojarikre

La Salle’s Kevin Quiambao vs Adamson’s OJ Ojarikre. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—La Salle’s Kevin Quiambao enjoyed his matchup against Adamson’s OJ Ojarikre in their first round duel of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.

Quiambao and the Green Archers came away with the 71-58 victory against the Soaring Falcons but the star sophomore made sure to acknowledge his heated battle with fellow big man Ojarikre.

“It’s fun to compete when it’s on the highest level, you can really see that he wants to win. Our matchup was fun but I focus on what we have, as a team,” said Quiambao in Filipino.

“Whatever they have is out of control so I just controlled what I can and it’s a good thing that we got the win but basing off my field goal percentage, it’s really bad.”

The league’s reigning Rookie of the Year had a double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. 

Quiambao, however, shot poorly with a 27.8 percent field goal shooting clip, sinking just five of his 18 tries.

Ojarikre, meanwhile, scored five while snagging 12 boards. The foreign student-athlete also recorded four blocks with two of them coming at the expense of Quiambao in the fourth quarter alone.

According to Quiambao, the reason for him outdoing Ojarikre was coach Topex Robinson’s reminder to the team at the half.

The big man said that he and the whole squad loosened up in the second part of the game, which gave them the edge over Ojarikre and the Soaring Falcons.

“We kind of lost our system in the first half so when we stuck with it, it just came naturally (performance). Good thing we enjoyed it and we valued every possession.”

Quiambao’s big man prowess will be put to the test once more when they face National University and Omar John on Sunday at the same venue.