IT could be a tossup between Ateneo Blue Eaglet Sam Josef Belangel and National University’s John Lloyd Clemente in the race for Most Valuable Player honors as they emerged as two of the most consistent players in the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines Junior Basketball tournament.
Belangel’s averages of 19.1 points, 10. 3 rebounds and 3.5 assists helped put the Blue Eaglets in the Final Four with the defending champion NU Bullpups.
Clemente, who ranked fourth with his shooting average of 14.8 points during the eliminations, normed 7.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in leading NU to the no. 1 seeing in the Final Four.
The two assumed the top ranking in the list of top players, who could take the MVP honors and the Mythical Five selection.
This was after the Adamson Baby Falcons and the UPIS, led by their top cagers Florencio Serrano and Juan Gomez de Liano, did not reach the Final Four.
Last Thursday, the La Salle Zobel Junior Archers took charge early and nursed a comfortable lead they earned to fend off the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs, 72-65, in the playoffs for the last Final Four seat at The Arena in San Juan.
Joaquin Mariano shot 17 points for the Junior Archers, who joined early qualifiers NU, Ateneo and FEU in the semifinals this Tuesday.
Second stringer Ray Carlos had only eight points. But his presence during a 12-0 run in the first period mattered.
He drilled in six points in the Junior Archers’ initial salvo and the Alabang-based squad were never in trouble after they moved away, 14-2, in the last 3:44 of the first period.
The Junior Archers will face the defending champion NU Bullpups on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
A triple from Rhon Abarrientos and a split charity from Louell Gonzales in the last nine seconds powered the FEU Baby Tamaraws to a 64-62 win over the Ateneo Blue Eaglets.
Their efforts came as Blue Eaglets’ ace SJ Belangel missed a crucial attempt and was shackled to a couple of fouls in the closing 10 seconds.
Their efforts earned the Baby Tams the no. 2 seeding and a twice-two-beat incentive in their clash with the Blue Eaglets on Tuesday.
Jack Gloria made 14 points, 13 rebounds for FEU, while SJ Belangel had 23 points for the Blue Eaglets.
