AMONG the most prolific offensive players in the 44-year existence of the local professional league Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), only 11 “homegrown” Filipino athletes were able to score 50 points or more in a single game during their pro careers.
All 11 players are no longer active in the PBA.
Five actually broke the 60-point barrier – “The Triggerman” Allan Caidic, “Mr. Excitement” Paul (Bong) Alvarez, William (Bogs) Adornado, Danilo Florencio and Abe King Jr.
As if scoring a 60 was not mind-boggling enough, two men – Caidic and Alvarez – even went over that mark to collect a 70 on separate occasions. This is truly a remarkable feat when one considers that their singular individual performances during the PBA’s early years could easily have been the total output of a team in a 48-minute game in today’s era.
In one shining moment, Caidic chalked up 79 points (including an all-time high 17 triples) for Tivoli (Presto) – the highest ever by a homegrown Filipino player in league annals – in a 162-149 win over Ginebra on November 21, 1991.
“The Destroyer” Rudy Distrito knocked in 54 markers for Ginebra in the same game vs. Tivoli.
Caidic, the former University of the East gunslinger, had three other 50-point games before his 79-point feat – 68 (including 15 triples) in Presto’s 175-159 overtime victory over Alaska on November 2, 1989; 57 vs. Alaska on July 8, 1990; and 50 vs. Anejo Rhum a month later.
Alvarez tallied 71 points for Alaska in a 169-138 win over Shell on April 26, 1990. Adornado knocked in 64 scores for U-Tex in a 126-111 victory over San Miguel Beer on December 23, 1980; Florencio became the first local player to surpass the 60-point barrier when he netted 64 points for Seven-Up in a 136-121 loss to Toyota on November 5, 1977; and King collected 60 points for Toyota in a 172-142 loss to arch rival Crispa on June 21, 1979.
While King got his 60, Co also tallied 50 for Crispa in the same game.
“The Rifleman” Adriano Papa Jr. scored 51 points for Mariwasa Noritake in the PBA’s inaugural season in 1975.
Antonio Torrente drilled in 51 points for Royal Tru-Orange in 1979.
On October 30, 1984, Tanduay rookie Dennis Abbatuan, a 6-foot-2 forward from Jose Rizal College, chalked up a career-high 51 points in the Rhum Makers’ 127-95 shellacking of Northern Consolidated Corporation in Game Two of the best-of-five series for third place.
All the aforementioned 50 points-or-more efforts happened between 1977 and 1991.
Of the six 60 points-or-more feats, four came on a winning note – Caidic (79, Tivoli 162-Ginebra 149), Alvarez (71, Alaska 169-Shell 138), Caidic (68, Presto 175-Alaska 159 OT) and Adornado (64, U-Tex 126-San Miguel Beer 111).
The two that were recorded in a losing cause: Florencio (64, Seven-Up 121-Toyota 136) and King (60, Toyota 142-Crispa 172).
Venancio (Benjie) Paras and Fortunato (Atoy) Co Jr. are the two other homegrown Filipino cagers with 50-point games in the past.
Paras, who has moonlighted as a TV color commentator and as a comedy actor on television and in the movies since his prime playing years, made 50 markers twice with Shell during the same 1989 campaign – vs. Alaska on April 30, 1989 and vs. San Miguel Beer on October 26, 1989.
It was the year that the amiable 6-foot-5 Paras became the first and only player in PBA history to secure Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors in the same season.
Co only had a single 50-point performance during his outstanding PBA career.
Monikered “The Fortune Cookie,” Co, who was famous for his difficult turnaround, fadeaway jumpers, got a 50 with the fabled Crispa Redmanizers franchise in the June 21, 1979 contest against Toyota. He, too, gained the MVP plum that year albeit in a controversial fashion.
Co was way behind Toyota’s Ramon Fernandez in the MVP statistical category but subsequently collected all the media votes – following a get-together with the sports editors of the top national dailies by the late Crispa team manager Danny Floro – to walk away with the MVP award.
Note: Fil-Am Stanley Pringle Jr. scored a career-high 50 points – including nine triples – for Globalport Batang Pier in a 133-115 win over Columbian Dyip on June 22, 2018. It was the most recent 50-point performance by a player with some Filipino blood or naturalized citizenship.
Three other players under that category are Arthur (Chip) Engelland (Northern Cement, 60 vs. Tanduay on November 4, 1984), Ricardo Brown (Great Taste, 56 vs. Ginebra on November 24, 1985 and 52 vs. Shell on August 26, 1986), and Pauliasi Taulava (Talk ‘N Text, 51 on May 16, 2004).
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.