Nuyles caps performance with UAAP weekly honors

Alex Nuyles showed his tremendous improvement in leading the Falcons to back-to-back wins bridging the first and second rounds of the 74th UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

Considered as one of the league’s fast-rising stars, Nuyles further enhanced his 'go-to-guy' tag as he came up with consecutive strong performances for the Falcons, enough to earn him the Accel-3XVI UAAP Player of the Week honors. And Adamson coach Leo Austria couldn’t help but notice Nuyles’ vastly-improved form especially in delivering the goods in the crucial stages of the match. On Sunday, Nuyles showed his coach and the entire Adamson faithful that he can be the San Marcelino-based squad’s go-to-guy in the clutch when the 6-foot-2 shooting forward nailed the game-winning jumper in the Falcons’ 68-66 win over La Salle. Austria admitted he doubted Nuyles’ skills before, especially during the preseason. “He was a bit erratic during our campaign in the summer leagues and he was still lacking maturity that is why I don’t give him game-winning plays." But Austria became a believer this season and Nuyles did not let his coach down. "I really wanted him (Nuyles) to have the ball. He showed he can take the big shots and he’s very serious in this campaign," said Austria. Given the golden chance to hit the game-winner against La Salle two days ago, Nuyles rose up to the occasion, spinning his way past defender Jarelan Tampus and nailing a short jumper over Maui Villanueva’s outstretched arms with eight-tenths of a second left. Nuyles capped his 14 point, nine-rebound and five-assist performance by foiling the Archers’ alley-hoop play intended for guard Luigi dela Paz as the buzzer sounded to the relief of a sizeable Falcons’ crowd. Against University of the Philippines last Thursday, Nuyles exploded for a game-high 21 points spiked by five rebounds, three steals and two assists in Adamson’s 72-46 crushing win. Nuyles defeated Ateneo's Kiefer Ravena, Nico Salva and Greg Slaughter, Adamson teammates Lester Alvarez and Eric Camson, and UST’s Karim Abdul in winning the award, given by sports writers from various broadsheets, tabloids and sports websites. – JVP, GMA News