Ferrer shrugs off ‘flu game’, named UAAP Player of the Week

Not even flu-like symptoms could stop Kevin Ferrer from unleashing a career game. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Despite playing with fever, Kevin Ferrer played his best game of his collegiate career in a big win for University of Santo Tomas this week.

Ferrer scored a career-high 27 points including three pivotal three-pointers for the Growling Tigers to complete a 68-58 win over Ateneo after trailing by as many as 16 points in the game that earned him the ACCEL Quantum/3XVI-UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week.

The win put UST in second place with a 4-1 win-loss slate, half a game behind Far Eastern University following this weekend’s matches in the country’s premier collegiate league.

UST coach Bong Dela Cruz was glad with Ferrer’s heart to play, more so since he was feeling ill even a day prior to their all-important match against the Blue Eagles.

“This is Kevin Ferrer. You can’t question his heart. He played sick and he fought whatever he was feeling during the game,” Dela Cruz said.

Dela Cruz added Ferrer helped UST bolster its comeback in the fourth quarter with his leadership as the team bounced back in a big way from their first defeat of the season against National University after going 3-0.

“We were flat on defense in the first three quarters. Kevin huddled the team. They responded well,” said Dela Cruz of Ferrer, who is playing in his final year with UST.

“We relaxed after we went 3-0,” Ferrer admitted. “After we lost, we talked to each other to talk about what we did wrong. It helped us for this game.”

Ferrer became the second UST player to win the weekly award given by UAAP scribes after Ed Daquioag. He also beat Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia of Far Eastern University and Gelo Alolino of NU for the plum.

Though UST is currently in second place, Dela Cruz said the team doesn’t want to get ahead of themselves as they reach for their goal of making it to the Final Four.

“It’s still too early. We just want to work hard every practice and every game. We accept whatever is the outcome. We are not a team, we are a family right now,” said Dela Cruz.