KEVIN Quiambao stands atop the UAAP Season 86 men's basketball statistical race after a strong start for La Salle.
Shaky as the first round might have been for the Taft side, Quiambao's consistency on both ends of the floor has been a bright spot for the Final Four-seeking Green Archers.
READ: Quiambao, Cortez flaunt all-around game as La Salle nips UE to stop skid
Averaging 16.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks (84.714 statistical points), the Archers big man is on track to be the first local player to win the UAAP MVP award since Ateneo's Kiefer Ravena in 2014 and 2015.
Since Ravena's back-to-back MVP nods, foreign student athletes went on to win the top individual plum namely Ben Mbala (La Salle), Bright Akhuetie (UP), Soulemane Chabi-Yo (UST), Ange Kouame (Ateneo), and Malick Diouf (UP).
Quiambao is closely followed by Season 85 MVP Diouf with 78.143 SPs and his La Salle teammate Evan Nelle with 74.167 SPs.
In the first round statistical update provided by the league, Quiambao leads the overall statistical points race despite not topping any individual category.
Quiambao ranked joint-first in three-pointers (2.71 avg), second in scoring, joint-second in field goals (5.86 avg), fourth in rebounds (9.57 avg), fifth in assists (5.14 avg) and net efficiency (+64), joint-seventh in free throws (2.43 avg), seventh in minutes played (27:03), eighth in three-point conversion rate (33.93%), and joint-ninth in blocks (0.86 avg).
Round 1 statistical leaders
Even after a 1-6 (win-loss) start, UST senior Nic Cabañero leads the league in scoring (20.6 ppg) and minutes played (30:34 mpg).
His teammate Angelo Crisostomo has the best field goal shooting percentage of anyone in the tournament at 60%.
Diouf is the league's best rebounder (14.7 rpg) and most statistically efficient player (+100) in Round 1, while UP teammate JD Cagulangan recorded the most steals on average at 1.9 spg.
Warriors pair stand out
Red Warriors duo Rey Remogat and Wello Lingolingo are also among the first round's best individual perfomers as the leaders in assists (7.3 apg) and average three-point field goal rate (48.2%) respectively.
UE's Precious Momowei also leads the Rookie of the Year race with 62.143 SPs ahead of Ateneo's Joseph Obasa (59.143 SPs) and UP's Francis Lopez (58.571 SPs).
Obasa is also the current league-leader in blocks at the end of the first round (3.3 bpg) as NU's Steve Nash Enriquez tops the field in free throw shooting at 87.5%.
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