Mbala wins MVP, leads mythical team

Ben Mbala of the De La Salle Green Archers capped the dominant run of squad during the eliminations by claiming the Most Valuable Player Award of the UAAP Season 79 men's basketball tournament.

Jeron Teng joined Mbala for the Mythical Five along with Raymar Jose of FEU, Paul Desiderio of the University of the Philippines, and Thirdy Ravena of the Ateneo de Manila University.

Aljun Melecio, the hot-shooting guard from the Green Archers, edged out the Adamson Falcon's Jerrick Ahanmisi for the Rookie of the Year plum with 36.5714 statistical points. Melecio averaged 8.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and one assist for La Salle in the elimination round.

Mbala amassed 92.4286 statistical points, the most by any player since the MVP race computation was formulated in 2003.

During the elimination round, Mbala averaged 20.6 points in a 56 percent shooting clip, 16 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks for the Green Archers who are now one win away in winning their ninth UAAP championship.

Mbala is even 20 statistical points ahead of his nearest competitor, Adamson University's Papi Sarr. He is only the second foreigner to win the MVP honors after Far Eastern University's Anthony Williams in 1981.  —Joseph Tristan Roxas/JST, GMA News