MANILA – A FILIPINO high school basketball player broke a record set by NBA superstar Kobe Bryant when he scored 82 points during a collegiate game in Manila on Friday, the second highest known score ever recorded in the sport and the highest in Philippine basketball.
Keith Jasper Agovida, the 18-year-old 6’1” scoring dynamo of the Jose Rizal Light Bombers, unleashed his torrent of baskets in a 127-rout of the Mapua Red Robins.
Agovidas spectacular feat erased the 81 points scored by Bryant on Jan. 22, 2006 when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors 122-104.
The 81 points scored by Bryant was the second highest single-game point total in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 over 40 years ago.
Agovidas 82 points also broke the previous highest personal score made in Philippine basketball the 79-point effort by Allan Caidic in the PBA in 1987.
Agovida scored on nearly every possession, tallying 23, 13, 20 and 26 in the first, second, third and fourth quarters respectively during the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) game. He made 36 of 50 shots, for a whopping 62.5 percent, and 10-of-16 from the free throw line.
Agovida, who averaged 30.9 points a game, also collected a game-high 15 rebounds aside from five steals and two shot blocks. His output did not include a single triple, making his accomplishment even more astonishing. He did attempt a trey once but missed, otherwise it could have been 85. Agovida was the NCAA Rookie of the Year in 2007.