The first round of UAAP Season 89 was as tight as it could be, and the MVP race is proving to be just as exciting. 

Foreign Student-Athlete (FSA) Mo Konateh of the FEU Tamaraws leads with 78.4 statistical points, built on 13.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.6 blocks in a league-high 33 minutes per game. He co-leads the league in blocks and ranks second in rebounds, and he is doing it alongside Janrey Pasaol, last year’s MVP, who sits 17th.

The statistical points formula gives assists and steals twice the weight of points, rebounds and blocks, and it also appears to add a bonus for every team win a player appears in. That win bonus helps explain why the NU Bulldogs, who share the league’s best record at 5-2 with the UP Fighting Maroons, have two players in the top five. Point guard Reinhard Jumamoy, who ranks second in the league in assists, is third at 72.7 after averaging 13.3 points, six rebounds and 5.1 assists, and center PJ Palacielo is fifth at 66.3.

The UST Growling Tigers, meanwhile, have three players in the top six of the MVP race, led by FSA Collins Akowe, who is second at 74.9 with a league-best 13.7 rebounds per game, though his 25 turnovers, which the formula subtracts, lead the league. Amiel Acido is fourth after averaging 15.9 points, second in scoring, and making 31 of 35 free throws, the league’s best at 88.6 percent. Mark Llemit is sixth, yet UST sits at only 4-3.

Tope Lagat of the UE Red Warriors is the league’s top scorer with 146 total points, or 20.9 per game, including a 30-point night against reigning champion DLSU Green Archers, yet he ranks only 18th at 55.1. UE is 0-7, so none of its players received a win bonus.

The rest of the field follows the same pattern. Monty Montebon is the top player for the AdU Soaring Falcons, who are 4-3, ranking eighth at 60.6, with Precious Jonah giving AdU a second name in the top 20 at 53.0. DLSU, at 3-4, is led by Jacob Cortez in 14th at 56.4, and no other player on the defending champions cracks the top 20.

In the Rookie of the Year race, Kieffer Alas of the Ateneo Blue Eagles leads the way. He is 10th overall at 59.1 after averaging 14.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals, despite shooting 34.6 percent from the field and 20.8 percent from three-point range. He also leads his team in statistical points, ahead of Jared Bahay.

Given how tight this season has been though, the standings and this statistical points race are still far from decided. FEU opened 4-1 before closing the round with losses to the Growling Tigers (69-81) and NU (65-69). A strong second run from any of the top seven teams could quickly reshuffle the landscape too. The only thing that’s certain is that the upcoming second round is definitely going to be even more exciting than the first.