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This Day in PBA History: NCC’s Moore pulls down 31 rebounds

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Rey Joble

As a guest team in the PBA, the Northern Consolidated Cement club posted several records in Asia&#x27;s pioneering professional basketball league.Not only was the squad the first local guest team to win a championship, but it also became the first ball club to post a 4-game sweep in a best-of-7 championship series when it shut out Manila Beer in the 1985 Third Conference finals.But it was also during that season where one of NCC’s players, Jeff Moore — one of the team’s naturalized players who represented the Philippines in major tournaments in Asia — posted a single-game record for most rebounds, albeit unofficially.On this day, 37 years ago, Moore pulled down 31 rebounds in NCC&#x27;s 114-99 victory over Shell.Moore surpassed the previous single-game high registered by Marcelo Simbulan of 7-Up in the league&#x27;s early years when Simbulan pulled down 29 boards.San Miguel Beer&#x27;s June Mar Fajardo also posted 31 rebounds on March 15, 2019, which the PBA acknowledged as the official record. Moore&#x27;s total was deemed unofficial because NCC was a guest team.The 6-foot-4 Moore, a member of the last Philippine team that won the gold medal at the Asian Basketball Confederation (now known as FIBA Asia Cup) that was played from late December 1985 to early January 1986, and the champion squad of the 1985 Jones Cup team looked back at the great times he had playing in the PBA.&quot;For me, it was an uplifting experience,&quot; wrote Moore via Messenger. &quot;We were young and we had a great time in the Philippines.&quot;Moore along with Dennis Still and Arthur &quot;Chip&quot; Engelland, now an assistant coach in the NBA, were among those players who stayed on and played for the Philippine team program of the late Ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco until it was dissolved right after the EDSA Revolution. &quot;The Philippines was a big part of my life. It was home,&quot; he added. &quot;As for the Northern Consolidated team, it was a special moment. We won the Jones Cup championship, the ABC and the PBA.&quot;But to be successful, Moore recounted how they worked so hard in practice and competing against some of the best players in the PBA had somehow prepared them.&quot;It was a grind, hard work every day at practice,&quot; added Moore. &quot;We were preparing ourselves for months under the guidance of Ron Jacobs, who changed the landscape of Philippine basketball.&quot;Franz Pumaren, one of the point guards of that illustrious NCC team, recalled that their first season in the PBA in 1984 was somewhat a baptism of fire and that prepared them to become a better squad the next season.&quot;First season namin, hindi rin naman madali para sa amin, minamama kami nung mga teams. Doon namin nakita iba pala labanan sa PBA,&quot; added Pumaren. &quot;Alam mo, at the height of the pandemic habang wala tayong mga ginagawa, I was able to watch some of the classic PBA games and makikita mo ’yung mga players back then, I think they can still compete sa mga present stars ngayon. Players like (Sonny) Jaworski, Francis Arnaiz, Arnie Tuadles, Philip Cezar, tingin ko kaya nilang sumabay kung inabutan yung mga stars ngayon.&quot;But for Moore, playing against the best of the best in the PBA had certainly made the team a lot more mature.&quot;The real gains came when we were competing in the PBA,&quot; added Moore. &quot;The PBA is one of the tougher basketball leagues in the world that I&#x27;ve played in. The competition was a real men&#x27;s game. Truly, it made me rough and tough and I was able to travel around the world and be prepared for whatever league I played in.&quot;

Northern Consolidated Cement may have had a brief stint in the PBA but it did come away with a few memorable feats; Jeff Moore got one of those.