Collegiate Press Corps reveals Mythical Five

A senior and a first-year foreigner lead the batch of players who were selected as the Collegiate Mythical Five for this season's Collegiate Basketball Awards.

Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo and Allwell Oraeme of Mapua highlight the list of honorees, after being named as the MVP by their respective leagues. Joining them are Mac Belo of Far Eastern University, Kevin Ferrer of the University of Santo Tomas, and Perpetual's Scottie Thompson.

Ravena claimed his second consecutive MVP with an eliminations average of 18.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.2 steals, helping Ateneo make it to the Final Four on his final season.

Oraeme's impact for the Cardinals was immediate, averaging 16.33 points and 20.28 rebounds, while adding 1.61 assists and 2.94 blocks in the eliminations. His Rookie-MVP performance helped power Mapua to their first Final Four appearance in five seasons.

Belo averaged 12.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists for the Tamaraws in the eliminations, then raised it in the postseason, averaging a double-double (16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds) to go along with 1.3 blocks in helping FEU claim the championship.

Ferrer blossomed into a collegiate superstar, finishing second in the MVP race with an average of 17.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and almost one steal in the eliminations. Basketball fans will surely remember his memorable Game 2 performance in the finals, torching the Tamaraws for 29 points.

Although the Altas missed out on the NCAA Final Four race, Thompson wowed the Pinoy basketball world by nearly averaging a triple-double, finishing up with 14.22 points, 11.11 rebounds, and 8.72 assists, while adding 1.33 steals.


It is from these five players that the SMART Player of the Year will be determined, which will be named tonight.

Kevin Ferrer nabs back-to-back Player of the Week nods

A "family" atmosphere has buoyed the strong start of UST this season, a start that got them atop the league standings.

According to head coach Bong dela Cruz, this kind of atmosphere was fostered since their off-season team-building, and that he hopes this stretch of good fortune continues on.

And much of that credit goes to Kevin Ferrer, who was named as the Player of the Week by the UAAP Press Corps, beating out La Salle's Jeron Teng and Adamson's Jerome Garcia.

Saddled with foul trouble that limited him to sixteen minutes overall, the Sinag standout opened the fourth quarter by scoring ten straight points for the Growling Tigers, allowing them to pull away against the Green Archers in their 77-61 win last September 30.

More than his scoring effort, it was his leadership that aided the team. UST struggled early on against the former champions, trailing by as much as 14. He got them together and they managed to shake off the slow start, riding on the hot hands of the likes of Kyle Suarez, Louie Vigil, Ed Daquioag and Karim Abdul.

Dela Cruz noted that Kevin is setting the example as leader to his teammates, although the 6'4" wingman is just merely elated to share his spotlight to his "brothers."

"Sobrang saya ko kasi nagse-step up na yung mga kapatid ko," he said. "Unang una pa lang, sabi ko sa kanila na kailangang lahat tayo mag-step up, lalo na sa defense kasi yun talaga ang magpapanalo sa amin. Nangyari na nga yung situation kaya masayang masaya kami.”

Kevin Ferrer named as the Player of the Week

In spite of being under the weather, Kevin Ferrer stepped and probably played the game of his life for the University of Santo Tomas this past week, earning a ACCEL Quantum / 3XVI UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week, beating out FEU Tamaraws Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia, as well as Gelo Alolino of the defending champions NU for the honor.

In the Growling Tigers' lone game during the period, the Sinag standout poured a career-high 27 points to complement a 68-58 come-from-behind, comeback victory over Ateneo, allowing them to secure their fourth win in five games.

UST head coach Bong dela Cruz lauded Kevin, "This is Kevin Ferrer. You can’t question his heart. He played sick and he fought whatever he was feeling during the game." He added, "We were flat on defense in the first three quarters. Kevin huddled the team. They responded well."

Ferrer acknowledged that the loss to NU helped them. "We relaxed after we went 3-0. After we lost, we talked to each other to talk about what we did wrong. It helped us for this game."

Dela Cruz admitted that the team is not looking ahead to the Final Four. "It’s still too early. We just want to work hard every practice and every game. We accept whatever is the outcome. We are not a team, we are a family right now."