University of the East (UE) has turned things around after a shaky start in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.

Back-to-back victories have brought the Red Warriors into the thick of the battle in the top half of the standings.

But the biggest win for UE came at the expense of no less than the defending champion De La Salle University.

And in the middle of the season’s biggest upset so far was John Abate.

After being limited to two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the Red Warriors’ win over Far Eastern University, Abate bounced back with a career-high 20-point performance, highlighted by game-sealing free throws in bringing down the mighty Green Archers, 75-71, last Sunday.

His heroics in the conquest that shocked the dominantly green-clad crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena earned Abate the distinction as the second recipient of the Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week for the period of 18 to 22 September.

The 24-year-old Filipino-American guard averaged 12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game to notch the weekly award backed by Discovery Suites and World Balance.

Abate edged out teammate Wello Lingolingo, University of the Philippines’ Quentin Millora-Brown, University of Santo Tomas’ Mo Tounkara and Forthsky Padrigao and Ateneo de Manila’s Kristian Porter for the citation given by sports scribes from print and online publications covering the beat.

With his outstanding play and the Red Warriors’ current success,

The 6-foot-1 do-it-all guard hopes his outstanding game and the Red Warriors’ current success will continue moving forward.

“Just sticking together. We have a system and a foundation that we built upon for these last two wins. So, coming off of that, we have the confidence now and we know that we can believe in ourselves individually and together. Going off of that, it just comes down to execution,” he said.

Meanwhile, another UE player took the spotlight in the women’s division.

Jearzy Ganade shone the brightest for the Lady Warriors as they ended a 40-game losing skid that spanned five years.

The combo guard starred in UE’s 65-47 clobbering of the Lady Archers for its first win since 21 September 2019.

She unleashed 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and six assists

Ganade, who averaged 8.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 2.5 steals over a two-game stretch, earned the Player of the Week honor in women’s play over Adamson’s Kazel Mazo, National University’s Jainaba Konateh, Angel Surada and UP’s Achrissa Maw.