ALJUN Melecio of De La Salle-Zobel has won the Most Valuable Player title in UAAP Season 78 juniors basketball.
The fourth-year guard, who has led the Junior Archers to second in the standings, tallied 78.9286 total statistical points (SPs), according to UAAP statistics provider Imperium Technology.
Total SPs, determined by a formula by the league’s statistics provider, is the lone basis for the MVP winner.
Melecio, who has committed to join the De La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP seniors, beat National University big man Justine Baltazar as the Bullpup finished with 76.5714 total SPs.
The 17-year-old Melecio, part of the Mythical Five in Season 77, finished the eliminations with a 22.7 points average including a season-high 42 points against Ateneo on the opening day of Season 78. He also averaged 7.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a league-best 2.3 steals.
Baltazar averaged 13.4 points and a league-high 13.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for the Bullpups, who swept the elimination round to claim an automatic berth in the finals.
John Lloyd Clemente finished third in the MVP race with 66.6429 total SPs while brothers Javier and Juan Gomez de Liano of the University of the Philippines Integrated School were fourth and fifth with 58.6923 and 58.3846 total SPs, respectively.
Tournament host Far Eastern University-Diliman will announce the official Mythical Five winners at a later date.
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