A new era has dawned upon the UAAP Season 87 basketball tournaments.
Reeling from a shaky start to their UAAP campaigns, University of the East bounced back in the most historic way possible by defeating the fancied De La Salle University in both the men’s and women’s divisions on Sunday, Sept. 22.
As UE sent out a statement to the entire UAAP landscape, such would not be possible without the stellar play of John Abate and Jearzy Ganade.
And for that, the two stars for the Recto-based squad’s basketball program have earned nods for the second Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Players of the Week awards for the period of September 18 to 22.
Abate, a 24-year-old Fil-Am guard, averaged 12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game against the FEU Tamaraws and DLSU Green Archers to lift the Red Warriors to a 2-2 record and notch the men’s weekly award backed by Discovery Suites and World Balance.
After being limited to two points on 1-of-7 shooting against FEU, Abate bounced back with a career-high 20-point performance, highlighted by game-sealing free throws, to hand the defending champions’ first loss of the season.
Abate edged out teammate Wello Lingolingo, UP’s Quentin Millora-Brown, UST’s Mo Tounkara and Forthsky Padrigao, and Ateneo’s Kristian Porter for the weekly citation.
With his outstanding play and the Red Warriors’ current success, the 6-foot-1 do-it-all guard gained the confidence he needed in hopes to ride the tide of their momentum.
“Just sticking together. We have a system and a foundation that we built upon for these last two wins so coming off of that, we have the confidence now and we know that we can believe in ourselves individually and together so going off of that, it just comes down to execution,” he said.
Over in the women’s division, Ganade’s all-around performance against the Lady Archers ended UE’s 40-game skid that spanned five years and one day.
Ganade averaged 8.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 2.5 steals over a two-game stretch, starred by a 15-point, six-rebound, six-assist performance against La Salle to lift the Lady Warriors to their first UAAP win since September 21, 2019.
The 24-year-all combo guard earned the vote over Adamson’s Kazel Mazo, NU’s Jainaba Konateh, NU’s Angel Surada, and UP’s Achrissa Maw.
Despite the historic victory, Ganade vows to keep herself and a young and revamped UE squad grounded in its hunt to tally more wins under their belt.
“‘Nung bumalik ako, gusto ko tulungan sila coach and mga teammates ko. Gusto ko noon makakuha ng win, and ito na, grabe, sobrang sarap sa pakiramdam. Lahat ng pagod talaga nawala,” she said.
“‘Yung goals naman namin, hindi namin kinakalimutan kahit na nakakuha na kami ng first win namin after ilang years. Itutuloy-tuloy lang namin, susunod kami sa mga coaches sa mga ipapagawa, and then sa sistema lang talaga, susunod kami.”
The Red Warriors aim to tally their third straight win against a struggling NU Bulldogs side on Saturday, September 28, at the Mall of Asia Arena, while the Lady Warriors look to ignite their first winning streak since Season 81 also against the unbeaten NU Lady Bulldogs at the same date and venue.
