Happy Birthday, Marte “Mighty Mite” Saldaña ( Feb 23 )

The 18-year-old Marte, who's taking up commerce at FEU, banged in 25 points in the first half against the Braves then added 33 more in the final half to topple Danilo Florencio's 49 (not 47 as reported by the dailies then) set on July 2, 1974 at the Araneta Coliseum against then-MICAA team Squibb. It isn't the best at the Rizal Coliseum, where Marte made his mark. But it hiked the MICAA mark past that of the NCAA of 55 (by Lim Eng Beng for De La Salle also in 1974) and the UAAP (by the late Vicente Casado in the midFifties as a University of Manila Ram). For the record, the MICAA high immediately after World War II was 40 by 1936 Olympian Charles Borck, in 1947 for Olympic Sporting Goods. All-American Pete Brennan broke it in 1958 as a Chelsea Clipper (the year Ysmael Steel won the MICAA championship with Albert Dunbar and 6-foot-11 John Upton), subsequently qualled by Philippine cage great Carlos Loyzaga of YCO. Brennan's mark stood until cracked it Florencio with a 49 off Squibb three years ago. The new MICAA single game record holder started playing teamball in the 1973 Camp Murphy InterAvenue League (his father is a major in the Armed Forces), a member of the 14th Avenue squad. He spent a year as an FEU junior player, under Chee Poblete in 1974. The following year Marte was promoted to fuli Tamaraw.