Garcia gets fourth UAAP citation
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
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ZAMBOAGUENO hotshot Ryan Roose Garcia cruised to an unprecedented fourth Player of the Week award in the 73rd University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) after directing Far Eastern University's (FEU) ongoing saga for the elusive basketball crown.
Certainly, the 20-year-old sophomore knows his job responsibilities with mastery as he lifted the Tamaraws to a second straight twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four as FEU upped its record to 11-2 (win-loss).
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As badge of consistency, Garcia showed the exit door to National University (NU) after unloading 11 of his 23 points in the third canto to deliver a 77-62 victory on Thursday, then capped his week with 12 markers in a 70-48 rout of University of the Philippines (UP) last Sunday.
Garcia's heroics against the pesky Bulldogs marked the fourth time he reached the 20-plus territory this year, dating back to July 11, when he drained 15 out of his 25 big markers in the second half to deal Ateneo's first season opener in five years.
The former RP Youth standout is the leading candidate for the coveted Most Valuable Player (MVP) award despite the strong challenge posed by teammate and Smart Gilas national squad member Aldrech Ramos and NU's Emmanuel Mbe, the all-around rookie from French-speaking Cameroon.
If Garcia continues to be consistent, he will be the first FEU cager to win the award since current San Miguel Beer star Arwind Santos won his back-to-back MVP trophies in 2005.
The Morayta-based squad also won its 19th championship crown that year against De La Salle University (DLSU).
The soft-spoken guy, however, downplayed his chances, for now.
"Hindi ko muna iniisip yung MVP basta importante makuha naman yung goal na makapag-champion," said Garcia, who bagged the weekly citation presented by Gatorade and Terrilicious.
Garcia won the weekly honor over Ateneo's Eric Salamat, NU's Jewel Ponferrada, and the University of the East duo of Paul Lee and graduating Raffy Reyes. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)
