Castro wins Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference

MANILA, Philippines – Talk ‘N Text guard Jayson Castro bagged the PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference award Wednesday night before Game 4 of the Finals between the Tropang Texters and Rain or Shine tipped off at the Araneta Coliseum.

BEST PLAYER Talk ‘N Text guard Jayson Castro bags the PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference award Wednesday night during conferment ceremony before Game 4 of the Finals between the Tropang Texters and Rain or Shine at the Araneta Coliseum. PBA IMAGES

The five-foot-11 Castro, whose 15.6 points per game average leads Talk ‘N Text, accumulated 1146 points besting teammate Ranidel de Ocampo, Alaska rookie Calvin Abueva, Petron Blaze’s Arwind Santos and Meralco’s Sol Mercado.

De Ocampo finished a distant second with 730 points, Abueva, who averaged a double-double with 14.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, ended up in third with 612 points.

Santos, who led the league in statistical points, wound up in fourth while Mercado, who averaged a league-leading 19.1 points per game, was last with 437 total points.

With Talk ‘N Text well on its way for its third straight all-Filipino cup title, Castro and De Ocampo also loom as the top bets to win the Papa John’s Pizza-PBA Press Corps Finals MVP award.