HE’S currently an Alaska Aces rookie in Asia’s first professional league, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
He once was a King Archer, collecting a pair of title rings (2013 and 2016) in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) during his five-year stay (2012-16) at De La Salle University.
But, he, too, was a King Stallion during his high school days at Xavier School, where he became a household name – not simply because he was the son of a PBA alum – and swiftly reached national consciousness with one of the most explosive scoring performances in Philippine basketball annals.
Seven years ago on January 5, Jeron Alvin Teng became the first high school player in local cage history to chalk up at least 100 points in an official game.
Before a sparse crowd of nearly 700 people at the state-of-the-art Jacinto Tiu Court in Xavier School’s Father Rafael Cortina Center in San Juan City, the 6-foot-2 Teng exploded for 104 points in powering the host Golden Stallions to a 164-74 shellacking of Grace Christian College in the now-defunct Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association (MMTLBA) contest.
Unlike legendary great Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point feat in the U.S. National Basketball Association on March 2, 1962, a DVD copy of Teng’s 104-pointer is available for viewing.
Moreover, Teng’s name will forever be etched in Wikipedia’s list of all the 100-point performances by an individual in international basketball history.
On the day he netted 104 points, Teng went 37-for-70 from the field (including 1-for-5 from three-point range) and made 29 of his 34 free throws while playing 35:22 minutes of a maximum 40.
Teng’s offensive wizardry eclipsed the all-time single-game scoring highs in the Juniors Division of Metro Manila’s top two collegiate leagues, the UAAP and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The NCAA record is 89 points, which Joshua Saret of the Jose Rizal University Light Bombers established in 2009. The UAAP mark is 83, which the Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws’ Terrence Romeo (now playing with Globalport in the pro league) registered also in 2009.
In his massive 104-point feat, Teng poured in 10-minute quarter scores of 27, 16, 25 and 36 points. The rugged son of “Robocop” Alvin Teng, a defensive specialist during his heyday, also grabbed 24 rebounds (20 of them off the offensive glass), stole the rock six times and blocked a pair of enemy missiles. (He did not issue a single assist, though.)
Overall, Jeron, a 16-year-old junior high schooler at the time, averaged 39.5 points in 16 Tiong Lian appearances (15-1 record) during the double-round 2010-11 season, surpassing the 39.3-point clip of elder brother Jeric (who eventually also spent some time in the pro league) with the Golden Stallions during a championship-clinching 9-0 finish in 2009.
More importantly, Jeron led Xavier School to another Juniors title – a league record-setting fourth straight overall.
With brothers Jeric (currently inactive) and Jeron having joined their dad in the PBA, the Tengs are the first set of father-and-two sons combination in league history.
Once Thirdy Ravena completes his varsity eligibility with Ateneo de Manila University, he will likely join his brother Kiefer, now a rookie with the NLEX Road Warriors, in the pro league as dad Bong Ravena’s torchbearers.
Note that all-time great Carlos Loyzaga also sent sons Chito and Joey to the PBA but the former was long retired from the old MICAA and international competitions when the PBA was established in March 1975.
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