San Beda's Hermida, JRU's Matute share NCAA weekly award

San Beda's Borgie Hermida and Jose Rizal U's Nate Matute played solidly during a week that saw the top three teams kept their lofty positions in the 86th NCAA men's basketball tournament. The 5-foot-8 Hermida, chosen 7th in the second round by the Barako Bull, came through with a pair of all-around games in the pacesetting Lions' two wins while Matute flashed his deadly stroke from beyond the arc to power the third-ranked Bombers to consecutive victories. For their efforts, Hermida and Matute were named Accel/FilOil NCAA Press Corps Co-Players of the Week. Hermida posted 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the Lions streaked to their 10th straight victory by crushing Emilio Aguinaldo College, 92-68. He also had a solid outing in SBC's 89-70 decision over St. Benilde finishing with nine points, seven assists and three rebounds. "Borgie is a good player," San Beda coach Frankie Lim said of his starting point guard. "He's PBA material." Matute shared the spotlight with Hermida last week as he buried 10-of-17 triples in two games. The Filipino-American guard from Las Vegas made 22 points, including 15 from beyond the arc, to spark the Bombers' 77-60 triumph against the Letran Knights. Five days after his breakout game, Matute was at it again, hitting 15 points, all from beyond the arc, in JRU's 66-55 pummeling of Perpetual Help. "He’s getting a nice feel for the game," said JRU coach Vergel Meneses. "He's getting more and more confident and I'm happy for him." - JVP, GMANews.TV