Kevin Quiambao continues to add to his growing legend, only needing 10 days to reset his career-high in scoring after a 33-point night against the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao only needed 10 days to reset his career-high in scoring, going off for 33 points in the La Salle Green Archers’ 80-65 win over the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Quiambao reset his scoring record at the 7:18 mark of the fourth quarter, hitting a jumper off the glass to notch his 31st point against the Blue Eagles. A two-handed jam wrapped up his night, which gave the Archers an 11-point cushion as Ateneo threatened to rally back with 3:47 left in regulation.
“I think ‘yung personal achievement, kusa namang darating ‘yon pag nagstick ka sa gameplan. So mahalaga na nakuha namin ‘yung panalo…and then after this game, kailangan naming maging humble lalo na ako, kasi kumbaga umayon sakin lahat ngayong game,” Quiambao told reporters during the post-game press conference.
“Tulad nga ng sabi ni coach, marami pa kaming kailangan baguhin, trabahuhin. We need to be better pa, lalo na ako as a leader dahil ‘yun nga, five turnovers [ako] na medyo crucial sa team.”
Kevin Quiambao’s previous career-high of 29 points came in La Salle’s overtime victory against the UST Growling Tigers last October 16, where he scored six of the Archers’ 14 points in the extra period.
On Saturday, the reigning MVP only needed three quarters to score 29 points, or 26 minutes and 49 seconds of play to be exact. Quiambao was well-aware of his score, having caught a glimpse through the MOA Arena jumbotron which displayed each player’s real-time score.
Admittedly, part of him had the urge to be selfish and forcibly break the record. But as a true veteran, Quiambao knew he had to stay level-headed. Getting a win was most important, and they were also facing a resurgent Ateneo team on a two-game winning streak.
“Nung 29 [points], medyo nai-excite ako pero yun nga, pumasok din sa isip ko na hindi ko pwedeng isipin na pang sarili lang…’yung personal achievement. Ang mahalaga naman nakuha namin yung panalo, yun yung pinaka yun yung pinaka nag-matter sa akin,” Quiambao told The GAME during a follow-up chat.
Fortunately, his coaches created the perfect play. Dungo found a cutting Quiambao off an EJ Gollena screen, and the rest was history. The reigning MVP had called bank on a Saturday night to add another page into his growing legend as a UAAP superstar.
“Nung fourth quarter, pagtingin ko sa scoreboard [ng MOA], 29 points na. So kahit one point na lang and mabbreak ko na ‘yung career-high ko…good thing, si Coach Caloy [Garcia], si Coach Topex [Robinson] nag-draw ng play para sa akin and then, ayun, ‘yung pagka-board ring natira ko yun, pumasok na,” Quiambao said, recalling the record-breaking play.
“So, credit pa din sa buong team namin na…hindi ko naman makuha ‘yung career-high ko kundi dahil sa kanila.”
As a true competitor, Quiambao reiterated his need to remain humble. After all, the Archers’ title defense doesn’t stop with his perfect night, and there’s still three games left in eliminations.
“Sa tingin ko, blessing naman para sa akin na nag-reset ako ng total sa team ko pero ang mahalaga is maging humble lang ako after ng panalo na ito and then move on sa next game.”
‘Hell of a game’
Even Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin was left in awe by Kevin Quiambao’s career night as he sang praises for the superstar forward.
“KQ played a hell of a game, there’s no other way to sum that up. He was good in many respects of the game. He was a prolific scorer, he passed the ball, he made good decisions, ” Baldwin said in a separate post-game interview.
“He played good defense at times and he led his team. You could see that he was inspired for the game, the game mattered a lot to him and he put up an outstanding performance. He really led a championship basketball team.”
Baldwin also called the Archers a “well put together team” that plays “really good” basketball as a collective unit.
“They’re playing inspirational basketball. They’re playing very attractive basketball from a coach’s standpoint, and they were just clearly better than us tonight. We had our moments and they answered them with very good plays, very solid team basketball plays that show their cohesion,” Baldwin reflected.
“It shows their collective understanding of what it takes to be the better team and the tougher moments in games.”
Banner image courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.