Jimmy Alapag. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Jimmy Alapag played his best game as a member of Meralco on the same night he achieved his latest milestone.
Alapag moved into sole possession of fifth place in the PBA’s all-time assists list on Wednesday, passing one of the league’s premier point guards in the 80s in Willie Generalao.
“Again, you look at the history of our league, the players that have come before myself through the years they’ve obviously set a very, very high standard for all the positions,” said Alapag.
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“And anytime you get an opportunity to move up record-wise, it’s always a huge honor because of the rich history of our league.”
The 37-year-old Alapag came into the game against GlobalPort tied in fifth and he broke the tie at the 3:08 mark of the first quarter when he assisted on a 3-pointer by Gary David.
Alapag now has a total of 3,260 assists and only Sonny Jaworski (5,825), Mon Fernandez (5,220), Dindo Pumaren (4,043) and Johnny Abarrientos (3,757) have more.
The former national team captain also scored 18 points, 15 of which came in the fourth quarter, where he spearheaded the Bolts’ rally that fell short.
“Honestly, I’ll trade all of those right now for us to get some wins,” Alapag said of his performance after his team bowed out of playoff contention with a 1-9 record. “It’s been a struggle for us this conference and it get’s tougher and tougher to the point where you get a little frustrated. But at the same time, it’s part of the process.”