Prince Eze books D-League record 11 blocks in monster triple-double job

Delfin Dioquino

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Prince Eze books D-League record 11 blocks in monster triple-double job
University of Perpetual Help's Prince Eze turns in the best game of his career

MANILA, Philippines  Prince Eze played like a man possessed for the University of Perpetual Help Altas as he notched his first career triple-double in an 88-72 demolition of the Jose Rizal University Monday, February 5. 

Although triple-doubles are already a fixture in basketball, Eze’s wasn’t like any other performance Filipinos hoops fans have seen.

The Nigerian delighted the crowd at the Pasig Sports Center, swatting shot after shot after shot. He finished with 24 points on 12-of-18 shooting, 20 rebounds, 3 assists and a PBA D-League record of 11 blocks. He joins Kent Salado, Ray Parks Jr., Jeron Teng and Mike Tolomia in an elite list of the only players with triple-double performances in the D-League. 

Eze achieved what he had failed to accomplish in all his years with the Altas but recording the triple-double was much more than statistics.

“It’s my first. I was supposed to have that in the NCAA but I couldn’t get that,” said Eze.

“Every time I see someone going for a layup, I feel like ‘Oh my God, if this guy goes with this layup, we might lose,’ then I have to chase it, like throw it away so that next time, they get scared of going to the rim.”

Perpetual head coach Frankie Lim, who joked that Eze was still “out of shape,” said that he plans to turn the lanky center into the most imposing player in the NCAA.

“He’s playing his last year so sabi ko sa kaniya, ‘Gawin kitang MVP dito sa NCAA pero kailangan makisama ka sa akin. You have to be committed in the program.’ Okay naman siya so far,” said Lim, who is in his first year Perpetual’s tactician.

(He’s playing his last year so I told him, “I will make you an MVP in the NCAA but you have to get along. You have to be committed in the program.” He is okay so far.)

“He played a long time sa Perpetual, I think he deserves to have a good year.”

However, Eze has another mission rather than taking home the NCAA’s highest individual award.

“MVP? I want to go in the playoffs, that’s my plan. Winning the MVP, that’s not my plan but every game I go to, I want to play, I want to dominate, I want to stop the offense from scoring,” said Eze.

“If I become MVP, it’s fine, but that’s not my plan. My plan is go to the Final Four with our new guys.” – Rappler.com

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Delfin Dioquino

Delfin Dioquino dreamt of being a PBA player, but he did not have the skills to make it. So he pursued the next best thing to being an athlete – to write about them. He took up journalism at the University of Santo Tomas and joined Rappler as soon as he graduated in 2017.