Rarefied Air Revisited
by Harry Cummins

     If you are still trying to put into perspective last Saturday's assault on the record books by Multnomah University's dynamic duo of Justin Martin and Zack Richardson, (49 points each) consider the following:

It happens rarely in a basketball game at any level that two players from the same team score 40 or more points in the same game.  For instance, the feat has been accomplished only 11 times in the storied history of the NBA's regular season. Elite pairings like West and Baylor, Durant and Westbrook, Jordan and Pippen, populate this short list. To find the college equivalent would require a journey thru murky waters and thousands of games that are 8 minutes shorter in duration than an NBA contest.

On December 13, 1983, in the highest scoring game in the history of the NBA, Kiki Vandeweghe scored 51 points and Nuggets teammate Alex English added 47 in a contest that extended for 3 overtimes. It remains the highest combined point total (98) by NBA teammates who both score over 40 points in the same game. Martin and Richardson matched that total in Saturday's record-breaking win.

We are forever left to wonder what would have happened had not both Martin and Richardson  retired to the bench with several minutes remaining in the game. Two 50 point scorers on the same team in the same game?   You almost saw it!!