Terrence Romeo bags Season 76 MVP award

By Paolo Mariano Posted Sep 19th 2013

As expected, Far Eastern University (FEU) main man Terrence Romeo was named MVP of the men’s senior basketball tournament of UAAP Season 76 after amassing a total of 75.28 statistical points (SPs) at the end of the double-round elimination.

The Tamaraws stalwart topped the league in scoring and steals for the first time in his career with 22.2 PPG and 1.6 SPG, respectively, while adding 6.3 RPG and 3.9 APG, third-best in the UAAP. He led FEU atop the team standings with a 10-4 record, tied with National University (NU) and De La Salle University.

University of the East (UE) big man Charles Mammie jumped all the way to the second spot with a total of 75 SPs. The 6-foot-8 import from Sierra Leone averaged 22.5 PPG and 21.0 RPG in their last two games to leapfrog in the ladder. He could’ve won the plum—the first foreigner to do so since FEU’s Anthony Williams in 1981—if he hadn’t missed two games due to suspensions.

Two-time MVP Ray Parks, who was running a close second to Romeo throughout the season, slid to third place with 73.85 SPs, while Karim Abdul of University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Roi Sumang of UE rounded out the top five with 70.92 and 64.0, respectively.

Romeo, who also won Rookie of the Year in 2010, virtually inscribed his name on the MVP trophy after tallying a career-high 33 points on top of nine rebounds and five assists in their win over University of the Philippines in their last game in the preliminary round. He owns the three highest single game scoring outputs this season and he hasn’t been shy in saying that part of his goal is to win the MVP award.

He is the third Tamaraw to clinch the hardware in the Final Four era after his running mate RR Garcia bagged it in 2010 and Arwind Santos in 2004 and 2005. He is also only the second guard after Garcia to be adjudged MVP in the said period.

Also included in the top 10 are NU’s Emmanuel Mbe (63.57 SPs), La Salle’s Jason Perkins (58.50) and Jeron Teng (58.28), Ateneo’s Chris Newsome (55.71), and La Salle’s Almond Vosotros (55.07).

The UAAP started using statistics as the sole basis in naming the MVP in 2008.

SPs are computed by adding points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and bonus points with turnovers and penalty points from any technical/unsportsmanlike foul also considered.