MANILA – Ilonggo Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III and Hesed Gabo are set to be feted by the Philippine Basketball Association Press Corps (PBAPC) after leading their respective teams to championships during the 2019 PBA D-League season.
Ravena and Gabo are this year’s PBA D-League Finals Most Valuable Player awardees. The former steered Cignal-Ateneo Blue Eagles to the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup, while the latter carried the BRT Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup.
The Ilonggo acted as the forefront for the Blue Eagle’s in their success in the Aspirants’ Cup. They slammed an undermanned yet gutsy Centro Escolar University in four games for the gold.
Ravena registered averages of 13.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 steals in the finals series.
Gabo, on the other hand, only normed statistics of 7.0 points, 2.7 boards and 4.3 assists in BRT Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare’s three-game series duel with the Marinerong Pilipino during the Foundation Cup but delivered the endgame decider.
The former Mapual Cardinals guard rose to the occasion in Game 3 by producing 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds – a solid performance that saw him hit key shots down the stretch.
This marks the second straight time that the PBAPC will give the said honors to the PBA D-League cagers.
Current Columbian Dyip guard CJ Perez and ex-pro Gab Banal were the first winners of the plum in 2019.
The PBAPC has yet to set a new date for its Awards Night after they decided to postpone the original March 16 schedule due to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in the country./PN
