Collins Akowe has been a man amongst boys in the ongoing UAAP Season 86 High School Boys’ Basketball Tournament.
The 18-year-old Nigerian big man of National University Nazareth School remains on pace to bag the Most Valuable Player award, leading the statistical points (SP) race by a wide margin.
Akowe, who stands at 6-foot-10 and is in Grade 11, accumulated 101.0 SP, with his averages of 17.71 points, 21.86 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, and 1.86 assists per game.
He has led the Bullpups to solo second in the standings with a 5-2 record.
In distant second so far is De La Salle-Zobel’s Kieffer Alas with 91.0 SP.
Grade 10 forward Alas, a mythical team member in the 2023 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship, is putting up numbers of 21.43 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.86 assists, and 1.29 steals per contest.
Joining the two in the top five are Ateneo High School’s Kristian Porter (89.857 SP), University of the Philippines Integrated School’s Daryl Valdeavilla (89.714), and University of Santo Tomas’ Andrei Dungo (70.571).
Porter, who is in Grade 12, is averaging 17.71 points, 16.14 rebounds, 2.57 steals, and 1.57 assists per game.
Valdeavilla is norming 26.14 points, 5.71 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game while Dungo, a transferee from San Beda Taytay, is averaging 11.14 points, 8.29 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.14 steals per outing.
Meanwhile, the second round of the league begins on Sunday at the Filoil Ecooil Centre.
Still perfect Adamson University takes on third-ranked UST to cap the day at 3 p.m.
Prior to the contest, the Bullpups and the FEU-Diliman Baby Tamaraws square off at 1 p.m.
Opening the slate are clashes between DLSZ and UE at 9 a.m. followed by the “Battle of Katipunan” tilt between Ateneo and UPIS at 11 a.m.
