McWilliams hailed Finals MVP; Coby is regular season winner

The Mythical Team of the NMI Rollers Basketball Association’s Inaugural NMI Rollers Men’s Basketball Tournament. From left, The Game’s Eric Joe and Jeff Sagum, Blue Haus’ Darwin Barbo, Ol’Aces’ Coby Santos, and San Antonio Sixers’ Jack Aranda. (Mark Rabago)

The Game’s Richard McWilliams and Ol’Aces’ Coby Santos were named Finals MVP and regular season MVP, respectively, of the NMI Rollers Basketball Association’s Inaugural NMI Rollers Men’s Basketball Tournament that concluded last night with an epic championship game at the Koblerville Gymnasium.

The 6’0” McWilliams edged his teammate Jeff Sagum for the Finals MVP after averaging 21 points in the two-game finals that were both played last night. He had a key 3-pointer and an alley-oop pass to center Eric Joe that sealed the deal for the Clint Albert-coached The Game. He totaled 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists in Game 1 and turned it up a notch in Game 2 with 28 points, 7 boards, and 2 dole-outs.

“My teammates are the real heroes and God is great. Thank God for giving both teams great talent. Couldn’t have done this without my boys,” he said after the title-clinching win.

The San Diego, California native also gave kudos to Albert for coaching up the team when it mattered the most during the tourney.
“Coach Clint is a great strategist. He kept us level-headed and didn’t allow us to fail ourselves,” said the 30-year-old teacher at Saipan Seventh Day Adventist School.

The high-flying Santos, for his part, took the regular season MVP after averaging 21.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 4.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks during the tournament.

“It honestly feels good but this is not the first time I’ve won MVP so I wasn’t that excited. I did try my best to get to the championship game though,” said the 20-year-old slam dunk champion.

RBA also recognized the tourney’s Mythical Team and they were Santos, The Game teammates Jeff Sagum and Joe, Blue Haus’ Darwin Barbo, and San Antonio Sixer point guard Jack Aranda.

Sagum averaged 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. Joe was the top-scorer for The Game with 15.4 points per outing on top of 11.8 boards and 1.0 steal per contest. For his part, Barbo averaged 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Aranda paced elimination round top-notcher Sixers with 11.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.

Also given awards were the King of Blocks Dominic Faisao (3.0 blocks per game), King of Steals Douglas Schmidt (5.2 steals per game), King of Assists Elmer Esdrelon (4.5 assists per game), and King of Rebounds Jeril Gant (14.8 rebound per game).