San Beda’s Torculas roars way to NCAA Player of the Week plum

MANILA, Philippines — Aldous Torculas continued to lead the charge for San Beda University, powering the Red Lions to a share of the Group A lead as the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament enters its crucial stretch.

The versatile forward delivered in back-to-back close wins over Jose Rizal University and Emilio Aguinaldo College, earning him the Collegiate Press Corps (CPC) Player of the Week nod for October 19 to 23.

Torculas stuffed the stat sheet against JRU on Friday with 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a steal as San Beda held off a late Heavy Bombers rally, 75-71, to improve to 7-3.

He also came through in another tight contest on Monday, leading the Red Lions past EAC, 89-86, with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

While his shots were not consistently falling, Torculas continued to shoulder the scoring load for San Beda, shooting 4-of-12 from the field against EAC and 6-of-14 against JRU.

His impact also went beyond scoring as he averaged 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks across the two games, helping the Red Lions secure consecutive wins and strengthen their bid for a top-two finish.

Torculas downplayed his individual contributions, instead emphasizing the importance of teamwork as San Beda pressed on with its title-retention bid.

“Our goal is to finish number one,” Torculas said, with San Beda seeking a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals with only three games left in the group stage. “I’m really happy because we worked hard for this.”

“We showed that we can make the winning plays. In important games like these, we have to stick together despite the challenges,” said Torculas, who edged Letran’s Aaron Buensalida, Mapúa’s Cyrus Cuenco and Lyceum's Matt Rubico for the weekly honor.