Mubashar’s masterpiece

Fifty points, 20-of-36 from the field with 7-of-11 from the three-point range, 25 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal — that is the eye-popping statline of Terrafirma import Mubashar Ali in their 111-100 overtime victory over Converge in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup Season 50 at the Ynares Center in Montalban last Saturday.

The 50-point performance matched the all-time mark for most points in a game by any player in the Terrafirma franchise. The last time a Dyip scored 50 was when Lester Prosper sizzled on 18 November 2022 in a 124-114 overtime win over NLEX that ended their ugly 25-game losing streak in the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup.

But what made Mubashar’s feat amazing was the fact that, as a devout Muslim, he was fasting that day because of Ramadan. In fact, he had no water or food for about 11 hours before the game.

This could also be the reason why he only had 11 points in the first half and Terrafirma fell by as many as nine points in the third quarter against a souped-up FiberXers.

But as soon as 6 p.m. came and Mubashar’s fasting ended, he simply gobbled up an apple and a banana to replenish his energy before erupting for 39 points in the second half, including six in the extra period where the Dyip actually held Converge scoreless. It was only the fourth time in league history that a team never scored in overtime.

Usually, when a player scores that many points in a game, especially in recent years, putting in buckets is just what he expends his energy on — but not Mubashar with those 25 rebounds.

Which got me curious right then and there when I saw Mubashar’s numbers on which player was able to record a 50-20 in an official PBA game.

To my surprise, I still have to find one as of this writing. (Or maybe a fan out there can help me out?)

However, I was able to dig up many close calls.

For instance, Prosper had 19 rebounds when he scored that 50 for Terrafirma three seasons ago.

Willie Thornton also pulled down just 19 rebounds when he had 69 points in an NLEX’s 131-127 triple overtime loss to San Miguel Beer in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup.

Among locals, Asi Taulava had 49 markers and 21 boards when Talk ‘N Text defeated Yonsei University-South Korea, 121-112, in the 2003 Invitationals.

The Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo — the PBA’s nine-time Most Valuable Player and 13-time Best Player of the Conference — had four 40-20 games, but none as close as Taulava’s to a 50-20.

So, unless someone proves me otherwise (and I’d love to be proven otherwise), I believe the last time there was a 50-20 game in the PBA was in the 1980s during the prime of imports Norman Black and Michael Hackett. Both were serving 50-20 games for breakfast for their respective teams back then.

Black, the only PBA import to have scored at least 10,000 career points, averaged 40.2 points and 18.9 rebounds in 282 games in a 10-season career from 1981 to 1998, including 51.8 ppg and 24.6 rpg norms in his first PBA season with Tefilin in 1981.

When Hackett scored a then league record 103 points in a game for Ginebra in 1985, he averaged 50.5 points and 20.5 rebounds in 24 games in the Open Conference.

Now you know how rare Mubashar’s 50-25 game was for Terrafirma.