Urbiztondo named week's best

MANILA, Philippines - Making the most when the opportunity presents itself is nothing new to Joshua Urbiztondo.

That is why it came as no surprise when he came up with a breakout game for Sta. Lucia Realty last Friday and bagged what is projected to be his first KFC/Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week honors for the limited period Oct. 26-30.

The 26-year-old rookie frolicked in his first start as point guard, notching 24 points, four rebounds, as many assists and two steals in leading the Realtors to a 101-93 win over Burger King that pushed them into second-running spot in the Philippine Cup.

Notwithstanding some hard fouls and nasty bumps levied on him, the gutsy guard still finished with a 2-of-5 clip from the three-point area, 7-of-11 from the two-point zone and 4-of-5 from the stripe and only committed one error in 34 minutes of action.

According to SLR coach Boyet Fernandez, it was only part by accident and half by design the 6-foot Fil-Am, a native of San Mateo, California, was thrust in the limelight.

“We had to change our rotation because Ryan (Reyes) was nursing a sprain, so we had to limit his minutes in our 1-guard position,” said Fernandez.