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25 years ago, Tony Harris scored 105 points for PBA record

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Dominic Menor, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/10/11/101117_tony.jpg"/><figcaption>Besides setting the PBA record for most points scored in a single game, Tony Harris also notched the league all-time mark for most free throws made (45) and free throws attempted (53). Photo courtesy of PBA: The First 25</figcaption></figure></div>When Michael Hackett <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/23/12/exclusive-pbas-first-100-point-man-recalls-ginebra-glory-days">did the impossible</a> in 1985 scoring 103 points for Ginebra San Miguel, it was a record that looked as if it would never be broken.Then Tony Harris came along.Twenty-five years ago on October 10, Harris stuffed the score sheet for 105 points in Swift&#x27;s 151-147 win over Sonny Jaworski&#x27;s Ginebra San Miguel in Iloilo city to set a new league mark.At a time when American reinforcements shouldered the scoring load, Harris took that role to Atlas levels, a feat made more impressive by the fact that that it came against the notoriously physical play of Jaworski and crew.In the game recap that appeared on the Philippine Star, PBA reporter Nelson Beltran wrote: &quot;Harris took all kinds of hard falls on the playing court from the unforgiving defense of the Gins, but all these hardly intimidated him as he went for the kill all night.&quot;Genaro Ledesma, one of the referees who worked the game, recalled as much.&quot;From the start, that was a hard game to call,&quot; Ledesma said in an <a href="http://www.philstar.com/sports/142257/what%C2%92s-bay">interview</a> with Philippine Star columnist Bill Velasco in December 2001.&quot;In the first quarter alone, we already threw out a few players. So many things happened, and it was an out-of-town game. I don&#x27;t think anybody liked any of our calls that day. If I weren&#x27;t from Iloilo, they might have lynched me.&quot;According to the official PBA Annual, Harris ended up shooting 53 free throws and making 43, both league records.Unlike games held in Manila at the time that were shown live and are currently being posted on sites such as YouTube, no video exists of the 105-point game, a case that&#x27;s comparable to when Wilt Chamberlain scored an NBA-record 100 points.Ivan Suansing wrote for the Inquirer: &quot;Against Ginebra&#x27;s vaunted physical defense, the Mighty Meaties used a simple strategy: give the ball to Harris and get out of the way.&quot;Most of the time, Harris would dribble near the top of the key, read the defense, spin to his right -- or left and leave his man with a quick first step.&quot;Incredible indeed because Ginebra&#x27;s defense was tough. Four times Harris was given the hard tackle . . . But he shrugged it off.&quot;The punishment Harris took from Ginebra wasn&#x27;t the only thing that should&#x27;ve slowed him down.The Iloilo game was the second in a series of provincial contests for Swift. Held on a Saturday, it happened a day after Swift played Purefoods in Davao city, a game that Swift won 166-144, led by Harris who torched the net for 82 points. For context, an import who is averaging 32 points nowadays would need at least 5 games to hit 187 points. Harris reached that total in 2 games over the course of about 30 hours.Prior to the Davao game, Harris had registered 87 points, fourth highest ever in the league at the time, so reaching the century mark in scoring was possible.And it wasn&#x27;t as if the Iloilo contest had no significance. The win clinched a semifinal berth for Swift, which went on to win its first championship in the PBA.Of the 105-point game, Swift coach Yeng Guiao played down Harris&#x27; efforts at the time: &quot;This is a tribute to the spirit of the boys. It&#x27;s the boys that won for us.&quot;Fast-forward to 2016 in an <a href="http://www.spin.ph/basketball/pba/special-reports/tony-harris-hurricane-where-are-they-now-swift-nba-celtics-louisiana">interview</a> on Spin.ph, Guiao, when asked to name his 5 best imports, described Harris as &quot;the best scorer I&#x27;ve ever seen.&quot;For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com" target="_blank">Sports website.</a>

At a time when American reinforcements shouldered the scoring load, Harris took that role to Atlas levels.

At a time when American reinforcements shouldered the scoring load, Harris took that role to Atlas levels.

25 years ago, Tony Harris scored 105 points for PBA record

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25 years ago, Tony Harris scored 105 points for PBA record

Dominic Menor,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 11, 2017 12:17 PM PHT

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Updated Oct 11, 2017 05:00 PM PHT

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