As La Salle swept the first round of the UAAP men's basketball tournament, the Green Archers have also swept the awards for the ACCEL Quantum / 3XVI-UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week honors.
Foreign student-athlete Ben Mbala secured his second nod of the season with a dominant performance this past week. The Cameroonian sensation padded the stat sheet with 19 points, 17 rebounds, an assist, three steals, and three blocks in fighting off the University of the East, 84-78 last Wednesday. He then followed that up with a 28-point, 13-rebound, 5-steal, and 4-block performance against arch-rivals Ateneo de Manila on Sunday, peppering the game with rim-rattling slams.
The wins completed the first round sweep for La Salle, something they have not yet done since 2002.
The transfer from Southwestern University had to sit an additional year due to a violation of the UAAP's residency rules, and having to be sidelined for that has been Ben's biggest motivation.
"I just want to make the most out of it. I wanna make sure, they remember the guy who was out for three years," he says.
On playing against their arch-rivals without their head coach Aldin Ayo and fifth-year star Jeron Teng, he adds, "Without coach and Jeron there, it's a test for us to show what we can do. I'm really proud of how the guys played as we stuck together."
Mbala beat out Matt Salem of National University and Alvin Pasaol of the University of the East for the weekly citation, which is given out by the scribes covering the league.
Foreign student-athlete Ben Mbala secured his second nod of the season with a dominant performance this past week. The Cameroonian sensation padded the stat sheet with 19 points, 17 rebounds, an assist, three steals, and three blocks in fighting off the University of the East, 84-78 last Wednesday. He then followed that up with a 28-point, 13-rebound, 5-steal, and 4-block performance against arch-rivals Ateneo de Manila on Sunday, peppering the game with rim-rattling slams.
The wins completed the first round sweep for La Salle, something they have not yet done since 2002.
The transfer from Southwestern University had to sit an additional year due to a violation of the UAAP's residency rules, and having to be sidelined for that has been Ben's biggest motivation.
"I just want to make the most out of it. I wanna make sure, they remember the guy who was out for three years," he says.
On playing against their arch-rivals without their head coach Aldin Ayo and fifth-year star Jeron Teng, he adds, "Without coach and Jeron there, it's a test for us to show what we can do. I'm really proud of how the guys played as we stuck together."
Mbala beat out Matt Salem of National University and Alvin Pasaol of the University of the East for the weekly citation, which is given out by the scribes covering the league.
No comments:
Post a Comment