EUGENE Quilban, one of the great but underrated point guards in PBA history, passed away on Saturday due to a lingering illness.

He was 58.

Quilban’s son Rhoko confirmed the death of his father due to complications of pancreatic cancer at the Philippine Heart Center.

PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III, a close friend of the playmaker out of San Sebastian, said Quilban has been diagnosed with his illness since late last year and had been confined in the hospital for the past month.

A two-time NCAA MVP and San Sebastian teammate of Paul Alvarez – they were high school teammates, too at University of Manila, the 5-foot-7 Quilban won back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball championship with the Stags in 1988 and 1989, including part of the first ever team to complete a 10-0 sweep of the first and second round pennant to emerge as outright champion.

In 1991, he was selected no. 3 overall pick by Alaska under head coach Tim Cone. He went on and win Rookie of the Year honor by season’s end and helped the franchise win the first of its numerous PBA championships during the Third Conference.

Until now, Quilban remained the holder of the PBA’s all-time high in assists with 28 in a 123-100 win by Seven Up against Formula Shell in 1992.

He played a total of eight seasons in Asia’s oldest pro league.

Curiously, following his impressive rookie season, Quilban was traded by Alaska to 7-Up, a team he later led to its first and only Finals stint during the 1992 Third Conference.

It was with 7-Up, later changed to Pepsi, that Quilban played majority of his playing career in the pro.

He also had a brief stint with Pop Cola and Sta. Lucia before retiring in the league in 1999.

In all, he played in a total of 274 games and averaged 8.6 points, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.