FEU's Garcia favored to win close UAAP MVP race

Nearly 30 years ago, Glen Capacio received the highest individual award – the Most Valuable Player award – while piloting Far Eastern University to a rare three-peat in the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.

Now the coach of the Tamaraws, Capacio expects his ward, RR Garcia, to accept the MVP award which will be given in Game 2 of the UAAP finals.

“He (Garcia) has saved us a lot of times," said Capacio of his cerebral guard. “I do hope that motivates him to help us more in the coming Final Four."

With the MVP award within reach, Garcia will have a more important task at hand – to carry the top-seeded Tamaraws to the championship round.

The 5-foot-10 Garcia and the rest of the Tamaraws will face an unpredictable La Salle Green Archers on Thursday. The Morayta-based dribblers carry a twice-to-beat advantage over the Archers of coach Dindo Pumaren.

But the chances of the Tamaraws will depend on the quality of game Garcia will provide. The 20-year-old Zamboanga native averaged 16.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a steal in steering his squad to a league-best 12-2 record.

Garcia is leading the MVP derby over his closest pursuers -- National University's Emmanuel Mbe -- and FEU teammate Aldrech Ramos in perhaps one of the closest MVP races in years.

For the second straight season, the league relied solely on statistics and Garcia registered 59.2 statistical points. Mbe is a close second with 59 points while Ramos is third with 58.7 points.

Should Garcia officially be named the league's MVP, he will become the first FEU point guard since Johnny Abarrientos to win the MVP.

Abarrientos, who had a stellar career in the pro league and was named one of the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players, won the UAAP MVP in 1991, the same year that FEU won a controversial championship series against La Salle.

Other former Tamaraws who won the MVP award were Joselito Roa (1961), foreigner Anthony Williams (1981), Capacio (1983) and Arwind Santos (2004 and 2005).

Expected to join Garcia, Mbe and Ramos in the Mythical Five are Paul Lee and Kenneth Acibar of the University of the East.

Lee compiled 57.7 points while Acibar, who came up with a big-time performance in the second round, had 50.64 points.

Notably, no player from two-time defending champion Ateneo is expected to make the Mythical Five or win any individual awards.

Another FEU player expected to come away with an individual award is Terrence Romeo, who is likely to win the Rookie of the Year award, beating Ateneo's Art dela Cruz and La Salle's Luigi de la Paz.

Romeo, who last season bagged the juniors' MVP award, had 37.8 while dela Cruz only came up with 31 points.

Rey Joble, GMA News