Kiefer Ravena: MVP award meaningless without UAAP title
Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo. INQUIRER PHOTO/AUGUST DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines—King Eagle Kiefer Ravena may have won the UAAP men’s basketball tournament’s top plum, but he has made it clear that he has bigger goals for his team this season.
“The MVP won’t mean anything if we don’t win the championship,” Ravena, who on Wednesday was named the UAAP Press Corps-Accel Quantum Plus/3XVI Player of the Week for the third time, said recently. “The MVP will be just a bonus for me.”
Ravena topped all players in statistical points (SP) to capture his first MVP plum with 77.6, besting De La Salle’s Jeron Teng, who came in second with 68.2 SPs.
Far Eastern University’s Mac Belo was third with 61.2 SPs while Ravena’s teammate Chris Newsome followed with 60.6 SPs and University of Santo Tomas’ Cameroonian center Karim Abdul completed the top five with 57.6 points.
The 6-foot Ravena, who was the Rookie of the Year in Season 74, led the league in scoring and assists, averaging 21.2 points and 5.6 assists per game while placing second in steals with 1.5 a game. He also normed 5.9 rebounds per game.
Ravena’s statistical points are the highest recorded since the league adapted the formula in 2003, according to UAAP head statistician Pong Ducanes.
Ravena, who is in his fourth year, helped the Eagles secure the No.1 seed in a comeback win over the Tamaraws with 23 points, 15 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime, where his team completed its rally from 19 points down in the last six minutes of regulation last Saturday.
Ateneo ended up with an 11-3 record and will face either the National University or the red-hot University of the East in the Final Four while owning a twice-to-beat advantage. In Season 76, the Eagles failed to make the Final Four with a 7-7 record, just a year after they notched a historic five-peat.
NU’s Alfred Aroga (53.8), FEU’s Mike Tolomia (53.7), Bulldogs forward Troy Rosario (52.7), La Salle’s Jason Perkins (52.2) and Adamson’s Don Trollano (50.6) rounded up the top 10.
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