ALLAN THE MAN

It’s only proper that this basketball-crazy nation now owns the wacky record for the longest non-stop basketball ever played in the world.

Intrepid participants in the 2014 Philippine Basketball Marathon achieved the feat for the country after playing continuous basketball from 9 a.m. Monday to around the same time yesterday morning at the Meralco Gym.

With their unbending spirit and resolve, the Phl cage marathoners logged a little over 120 hours of play, surpassing the time of 112 hours and 13 seconds the Missouri Athletic Club set in its own wacky game in St. Louis, Missouri on March 21 to 25, 2012.

The big difference in the 2014 PBM was that the players tested their limits for a noble cause.

Entering their names in the Guinness World Records are the 24-strong cast composed of Larry Macapanpan, Owen Mabaga, Robbie Dell Macatbag, John Ray Mappala, Sandy Cenal, Abraham Compuesto III, Evan Lazana, Carlo Ferdinand Vasquez, Helino Francisco Jr., Kerr Bangeles, Harold Lomtong, Luis Jay Volante, Santos Tominio, Justo Quita Jr., Hazel Foja, Robert Clark Bear, Paul Michael dela Peña, Adin Rome Santos, Renell Montecillo, Jopet Quiro, lady baller Maricar Convencido and American participants Tony Tatar, Chuck Williams and Jeffrey Moore.

Team Bounce Back beat Team Walang Iwanan, 16,783-16,732, with the winning, the losing and the combined scores all way above the Missouri marks.

Adjudicator Turath Alsaraf, the Guinness director for records management team, handed chief PBM organizer Jacque Ruby the certificate of Guinness recognition of the record feat shortly after the close of the event.

The curious PBM mix endured strain, stress and homesickness to smash the old mark and help the noble goal of raising fund for the benefit of typhoon Yolanda victims.

Through the end of the basketball marathon, the organizing ACCESS (Asian Cable Enterprises Inc.) has accumulated some amount. But the fund-raising drive doesn’t end there.

In partnership with Gawad Kalinga Philippines, ACCESS’s next mission is to build a basketball marathon village in an area in Negros Occidental that was devastated by Yolanda. The Phl cage marathoners will help in the construction of the village.

The cage warriors made the final push in their coup in yesterday’s early hours before the Guinness adjudicator.

They whooped it up by the time they matched the old record at around 1 a.m. and rejoiced even more when they finally ended their lung-busting but uplifting journey at 9 a.m.

The players, organizers and supporters exchanged high fives, shared cheers and locked themselves in warm embraces in celebrating the momentous moment.

“It’s overwhelming. It shows that the Filipinos are really world beaters,” said Ruby, the Discovery-ACCESS chief operating officer.

As they hit the Missouri mark, the Filipino players saluted Tatar, Williams and Moore in respect to the feat they achieved with the old record holders.

Exhausted and all, some wanted to quit at that point, but were prevailed upon to carry on.

“It’s good  they continued because the adjudicator wasn’t there at that time. If they stopped, baka na-technical pa tayo,” said Ruby.

As Ruby eventually waved the timer to stop the clock, the time read 120 hours, one minute and 7.8 seconds.

The high-flying Cenal executed a dunk for Walang Iwanan’s final basket then Bounce Back’s Convencido scored on a layup before Ruby signaled the game’s windup.

Then emotions filled the air with almost everyone crying.

“We achieved this feat and we’re now going back to our normal lives,” said Ruby.