Ateneo de Manila University’s Angelo Kouame is a head above the competition after the first round of the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
By Tiebreaker Times’ unofficial count, the 6-foot-11 naturalized Filipino currently leads the statistical points race by a huge margin.
Kouame has picked up 12.86 points, 12.29 rebounds, and 2.57 blocks per game averages – as well as leading the Blue Eagles to a pristine 7-0 record. For this, the 24-year-old big man has amassed 70.9 SPs to lead the field.
After a rough start to his UAAP career, Zavier Lucero of University of the Philippines is starting to close the gap with Kouame.
Lucero, a master’s student-athlete from CSU Maritime Academy, is currently second in the race – again based on TBT’s unofficial count – with 67.0 SPs.
The 6-foot-6 forward is currently averaging 15.29 points, 8.29 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.86 assists so far. He has powered the Fighting Maroons to a 6-1 record.
At third is De La Salle University big man Justine Baltazar. His numbers of 12.71 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks, along with the Green Archers’ five wins, gave him 60.7 SPs.
If the season were to end last Saturday, Kouame, Lucero, and Baltazar will compose the frontcourt of the UAAP Mythical Team. They edge out Far Eastern University’s Emman Ojuola (56.3); UP’s Carl Tamayo (52.9) and Malick Diouf (51.4); and La Salle’s Michael Phillips (50.3).
Meanwhile, Ateneo’s Dave Ildefonso and FEU’s RJ Abarrientos would have composed the backcourt of the All-UAAP team after the first round.
Ildefonso is averaging 12.57 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.57 assists. He is seventh in the SP race with 51.1 while Abarrientos sits at eighth with 50.7.
Adamson University’s Jerom Lastimosa though is not too far behind Abarrientos. He has 49.9 SPs despite the Soaring Falcons only having just two wins for the season.
Abarrientos’ backcourt mate in FEU L-Jay Gonzales is also in the running with 48.8 SPs.
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