La Salle Green Archers’ Kevin Quiambao in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — After emerging as the Most Valuable Player frontrunner in the first round, Kevin Quiambao sustained his dominant form to power La Salle’s 100-69 beatdown of University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The 6-foot-8 Quiambao dropped 22 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, five steals, and a block in 23 minutes of playing time to start the Green Archers’ second-round campaign with a 31-point blowout win for an improved 5-3 record.
The sophomore forward, who could be the first local UAAP MVP since Ateneo guard Kiefer Ravena in 2014 and 2015, said he is honored to lead the statistical race in the first round but his main goal is to stick to coach Topex Robinson’s system and win games for La Salle.
“I’m honored and blessed to be part [of that list] and emerged as number one. But as coach Topex said before the game, it feels good to see your name there but our main focus should be winning the game,” said Quiambao in Filipino.
Quiambao, who won the Rookie of the Year last season, had a total of 84.714 statistical points after averaging 16.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks in seven games.
“All of my statistics came from the system of coach Topex, coach Caloy [Garcia], and all of the coaches. I just repay their trust and I have to step up because I have a bigger role this year,” he said.
TESTAMENT TO TEAMWORK
La Salle coach Topex Robinson. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
La Salle coach Topex Robinson admitted that they talked about the emergence of Quiambao in the first round as well as Evan Nelle, who was third in the MVP race with 74.167 statistical points, before facing UST.
“I would be a hypocrite if hindi ko aasamin yun if I’m the one who’s on that list. We kind of like opened it up that there’s a possibility. ‘Wag na tayo mag bulag-bulagan para at least alam ng lahat na the reason why Kevin and Evan are in the Top 5 is because of everybody,” said Robinson. “You cannot have an assist if your teammate doesn’t make a basket. It’s just a testament of how good we are as individuals, [but] it’s also a challenge of how we’re gonna make that advantage of having those players individually in their gifts to compensate or to blend well with the rest of our local players.”
La Salle continued to showcase its commendable team chemistry with Nelle dishing out 10 of the team’s 30 assists to go with 11 points and four steals.
“We don’t want to lose [the support of everybody] just because of individual accolades and the pressure of representing DLSU. As long as we’re gonna have joy, joy for us is having 30 assists. Guys are really enjoying playing for each other, so that’s important for us,” he said. “And obviously, getting those individual awards, and getting those team awards that we’re gonna get. We’re clear about what we want to do.”
Jonnel Policarpio also made the most of his first start and extended playing time with Mike Phillips sitting out. He contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
UST was sent crashing back to earth after its first win against Far Eastern University last Sunday to end a 19-game losing streak.
Nic Cabañero carried the Growling Tigers with 13 points, five rebounds, and six assists. Christian Manaytay had 10 points, while SJ Moore had nine points and five boards.
The scores:
DLSU (100) – Quiambao 22, Policarpio 14, Cortez 13, Nelle 11, Gollena 9, Escandor 6, Macalalag 5, Nwankwo 4, B. Phillips 4, Nonoy 4, Abadam 3, David 3, Austria 2, Manuel 0, I. Phillips 0.
UST (69) – Cabañero 13, Manaytay 10, Moore 9, Duremdes 8, Crisostomo 7, Laure 6, Lazarte 5, Llemit 4, Manalang 4, Ventulan 2, Gesalem 1, Pangilinan 0, Magdangal 0, Esmena 0, Calum 0.
Quarterscores: 29-21, 52-38, 75-49, 100-69