FEU's Garcia leads UAAP MVP race

Far Eastern University's ace guard RR Garcia stole the spotlight from his more experienced teammates and counterparts as he led the race for the Most Valuable Player award after the first round of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament. The 20-year old, 5-foot-11 Garcia, emerged as the leader after spearheading the Tamaraws to a perfect 7-0 slate at the end of the first round eliminations. The native of Zamboanga averaged a league-best 17.7 points. He also averaged 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 32.1 minutes of action. Garcia, who played for the RP U-18 team in 2008 before suiting up for the Morayta-based squad last season, registered 64.7143 points to lead his closest pursuer Paul Lee of University of the East. "That's just my style of play. I just hope I continue my consistent play," said the soft-spoken Garcia, known as a cool performer under pressure. "As his coach, I'm quite confident because he's like the coach on the court," said FEU mentor Glen Capacio, referring to his reliable sophomore quarterback. Capacio is one of many former FEU players who bagged the league's highest individual honor in the league. The many-time Philippine Basketball Association All-Defensive team member, won the MVP award in 1983. Other former Tamaraws to win an MVP include Johnny Abarrientos and current San Miguel Beer star forward Arwind Santos, who won back-to-back awards in 2004 and 2005. Lee is currently running second with 60.2857 points, but his Warriors squad has struggled and won just one game in seven outings to stay at the lower half of the standings. UE is just slightly better than University of the Philippines, which lost all its seven games. Lee, a former PBL Rookie of the Year and last year's member of the Mythical Five, averaged 17.3 points, eight rebounds, four assists and 1.7 steals. Running third in the race is another Tamaraw, Smart-Gilas national developmental team member Aldrech Ramos, who garnered 58.4286 points while National University's rookie transferee Emmanuel Mbe, a native of Cameroon, placed fourth with 55.8571 points. Completing the top five is FEU frontliner Reil Cervantes with 55.0000 points. - RCJ, GMANews.TV