By: Joaquin Cortez
After enduring an up-and-down collegiate career, Reinhard Jumamoy is finally seeing his hard work pay off, emerging as the frontrunner in the Most Valuable Player race after the first round of the UAAP Season 89 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament.
The fourth-year guard led all local players with 72.714 statistical points after the opening round, helping the Bulldogs finish with a 5-2 record and share the top spot in the standings with University of the Philippines.
“Nagbunga lang din ‘yung mga pinaghirapan ko at ‘yung sa ups and downs ko. Hindi ko naman iniisip ‘yun eh. Alam kong kusang darating, kung anong darating sa akin, as long as nag-sti-stick lang ako sa system at sa kung anong pinapagawa ni Coach Jeff [Napa] sa akin,” Jumamoy said.
“Hindi ko talaga iniisip ‘yung ganoong bagay talaga.”
Jumamoy ranks eighth in scoring with 13.29 points per game and second in assists with 5.14 per contest. He also delivered a game-winning three-pointer against University of Santo Tomas in overtime on Oct. 10 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
His emergence marks a significant turnaround from last season, when he averaged just 4.08 points, 1.92 rebounds, and 0.92 assists in 13 games in 2025.
Jumamoy admitted that his rise to the top of the statistical rankings came as a surprise after navigating the highs and lows of his collegiate career.
(C) UAAP Season 89 Media Team
“Oo, siyempre. From ups and downs na career ko sa college, ngayon, nakikita ko na ‘yung pinaghirapan ko,” the former UAAP Boys’ Basketball MVP reflected.
“Super happy lang na grabe ‘yung growth ko as a player sa ngayong stage.”
Despite scoring just four points in NU’s 79-43 rout of Adamson University on Saturday, Jumamoy felt pleased with his teammates’ contributions, particularly those coming off the bench.
“Masaya na ‘yung teammates ko nag-contribute, ‘yun ‘yung goal namin. Alam ko Round 1, pahirap na ng pahirap. So super happy na ‘yung off the bench namin, sobrang naging present sila today at hindi ako nahirapan,” he said.
The victory extended NU’s winning streak to four games and improved its record to 6-2, keeping the Bulldogs level with UP atop the standings.
Jumamoy leads the local MVP race ahead of UST’s Amiel Acido, who has 68.714 SPs, and teammate PJ Palacielo, who follows with 66.286. UST’s Mark Llemit ranks fourth among local players with 66.0 SPs, while FEU’s Kirby Mongcopa rounds out the top five with 65.0.
Despite his individual standing and NU’s strong start for the second consecutive year, Jumamoy stressed that the Bulldogs cannot afford to become complacent as they enter the second round of the tournament.
“Hindi namin iniisip na nasa top place kami. Hindi ko rin iniisip kung nasaan kami ngayon as long as nagtatrabaho kami day by day,” the senior guard said.
“‘Yun lang ‘yung iniisip namin na kailangang ipagtrabahuhan kasi alam ko naman, kalaban lang namin ang sarili namin.”
