We have a new no. 1 following a wild week in the UAAP that featured a buzzer-beater, an epic comeback, and a thrilling overtime game.
Each week, we will be naming the 10 best UAAP men’s basketball players in our Power Rankings based on their performances from the previous week. Statistics will always play a big part in determining the rankings, but we will also be looking at a player’s impact on his team’s win-loss record and if he came up with winning plays.
Week 3 was pretty wild, to put it mildly. There was that spectacular buzzer-beater with 0.4 of a second left from Adamson’s Joshua Yerro, a breakthrough overtime win for the FEU Tamaraws, and a 38-point turnaround by the UP Fighting Maroons and the Falcons. Oh, and the defending champs went 2-0 while their star player now has a plus-1 in his life.
With all this going on, these were the 10 players who stood out in UAAP Season 87 Week 3:
1. Mike Phillips (DLSU Green Archers)
Previous rank: 9th
The Green Archers’ team captain stood tall in Week 3, leading the defending champs to a 2-0 record and solo second with an overall record of 5-1. Motor Mike put up double-doubles in both games and even led his team in scoring each time, dropping a 13-14 stat line in DLSU’s bounce-back win against the FEU Tamaraws before closing the week with a 12-18 hammer in a 21-point rout of the UST Growling Tigers.
2. Harold Alarcon (UP Fighting Maroons)
Previous rank: not ranked
The Fighting Maroons’ veteran scorer finally crashes our rankings after a solid 14-point, 8-rebound, zero-turnover output in UP’s huge come-from-behind win over the Adamson Falcons. Alarcon fueled the Maroons’ second-quarter comeback as they preserved their spotless record at 5-0 heading into Week 4 where the Tigers await on Wednesday before their much-awaited finals rematch against the Green Archers on Sunday.
3. Kevin Quiambao (DLSU Green Archers)
Previous rank: 2nd
KQ had an eventful week both on and off the court, becoming a dad and then helping the defending champs win two games. His Week 3 numbers — 11.0 points and 8.5 boards — dipped a bit, but we’re giving him a pass since anyone who’s been a father knows that the first week of having a baby generally means saying goodbye to a good night’s sleep. Congrats, KQ!
4. Quentin Millora-Brown (UP Fighting Maroons)
Previous rank: 7th
The Fighting Maroons’ deep bench has meant that there’s been a revolving door of top performers game in and game out. The one constant through five games, though, has been QMB, who submitted another solid double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds in a team-high 28 minutes against the Falcons. Millora-Brown has established himself as UP’s primary big man, and he’s actually making a strong case for the title of best big man in Season 87.
5. Terrence Fortea (UP Fighting Maroons)
Previous rank: not ranked
Fortea had an injury-riddled Season 86, and he also struggled a bit out of the gates in Season 87, but last Saturday he finally broke through and reminded everyone that he’s still one of the UAAP’s best shooters. The former Gilas Youth guard literally couldn’t miss, going 1-for-1 on two-point shots, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-for-2 from the line for 13 points. A number of his baskets came during a crippling 19-1 UP run that broke the game wide open in the fourth quarter.
6. John Abate (UE Red Warriors)
Previous rank: 3rd
Abate picked up where he left off in Week 2 with a strong 15-point performance in the Red Warriors’ lone Week 3 appearance, a 57-51 win over the Bulldogs that stretched their winning run to three. Abate was the only Warriors in double digits after shooting 7-for-12 from the field while the rest of the team went a dismal 12-for-49.
7. Raven Gonzales (DLSU Green Archers)
Previous rank: not ranked
Gonzales became the first Archer, not named Kevin or Mike, to make it to our Power Rankings after providing quality minutes off the bench for DLSU. In just 12 minutes of playing time over the game, the center formerly surnamed Cortez contributed 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in the Green Archers’ two wins in Week 3, enough for him to sneak into our rankings.
8. Monty Montebon (Adamson Falcons)
Previous rank: not ranked
The Falcons went 1-1 in Week 3, squeaking past the luckless Bulldogs and blowing a 22-point lead against the league-leading Fighting Maroons. The one constant in both games was Montebon, who averaged 13.5 points over that span as he continues to be among the bright spots for a Falcons team that is solidly in the mix for a Final Four berth.
9. Jorick Bautista (FEU Tamaraws)
Previous rank: not ranked
Bautista’s performance against the Green Archers, where he struggled mightily in a 3-for-21 shooting night, is definitely not the stuff that lands you a spot in our rankings. But he more than made up for that against the Ateneo Blue Eagles, pumping in 18 points, including 11 of his team’s last 20, as the Tamaraws finally entered the win column with a thrilling 66-65 overtime win.
10. Precious Momowei (UE Red Warriors)
Previous rank: 4th
Momowei didn’t have a good offensive performance against the Bulldogs, chipping in just five points on 2-for-9 shooting, but he grabs the last spot on this week’s Power Rankings thanks to a personal season-high 20 rebounds he grabbed against the undersized NU frontline. Overall, the Nigerian center is averaging 9.8 points and 13.4 rebounds which is a major reason why the Red Warriors are entertaining thoughts about ending their 15-year Final Four drought.
Banner Images from UAAP Media Bureau.