Calvin Abueva picks up 3rd Player of the Week citation
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Calvin Abueva registered a tournament-leading third Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week behind another brave effort to lead Alaska to a 100-92 win against Star on Saturday’s road game in Davao City.
The 6-foot-1 Abueva saved his best in the final quarter, knocking down nine of his team-high 21 points in the last six minutes as the Aces snapped a two-game slide.
More importantly, Alaska secured a quarterfinal seat with its sixth win in nine starts in the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The former PBA Rookie of the Year added six rebounds while providing his customary game-long hustle to beat the likes of Ginebra’s Greg Slaughter and Chris Ellis, Meralco’s Cliff Hodge, Tropang TNT rookie Troy Rosario, Rain or Shine’s Jeff Chan and NLEX’s Sean Anthony for the citation for the period of March 28-April 3.
Despite being the first PBA player to earn three PBA Press Corps Player of the Week honors, the 28-year-old Alaska wingman credited his solid showing to Alaska coach Alex Compton.
“Lahat kasi kami binibigyan ng kumpiyansa ni coach. Hindi lang ilang players ang iniikot niya kaya siyempre, kami naman as a player, magta-trabaho talaga para manalo ang team,” said Abueva, who is averaging a PBA career-high 16.56 points this conference, to go along with 7.89 rebounds and 3.33 assists.
Alaska improved to 6-3 overall, just a full game behind Meralco’s 7-2 card as the Aces keep their top 2 hopes alive.
Based on the tournament format, the top 2 finishers in the single-round eliminations will secure twice-to-beat incentives heading to the playoffs.
The Aces clash with the Bolts in a critical match this Thursday, before closing their elimination round assignment against the NLEX Road Warriors in the final playdate on April 15. (RD)
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