The only other time Alaska carried a different brand name was in 1987 when a strike was happening in the company and management decided to ditch it, using its leading milk brand in place of a coffee product that needed build up during that time.

So when the 1987 PBA season started, the Alaska franchise donned the Hills Bros. uniform and the team was known as the Coffee Kings, a direct competitor of Great Taste Coffee Makers, whom they played in the 1987 All-Filipino championship series, but got swept in three games.

The following conference, Hills Bros. found a goldmine of an import named Jose Slaughter and he carried the squad all the way to the championship round of the Third Conference, but the Coffee Kings lost again to Bobby Parks and the San Miguel Beermen in five games of their best-of-seven championship series.

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Known for their toughness, Slaughter had a personality that blended well with the Coffee Kings then anchored on the Bruise Brothers Yoyoy Villamin and Ricky Relosa.

But on this day in history on October 18, 1987, during the elimination round game between Hills Brothers and bitter rival Great Taste, which was then carrying the instant milk brand, Slaughter erupted for 79 points and set the record for the most number of 14 3-point shots during that time.

Slaughter surpassed the record previously set by Rob Williams of the Tanduay Rhum Makers a year earlier as the Coffee Kings defeated their rivals, 129-115.

Slaughter and the Coffee Kings' road to the finals was tough as they needed to get past Billy Ray Bates and the Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings in the playoffs for a finals berth.

At that time, Bates was the league's leading scorer, averaging 54.9 points per game, his best scoring average, better even during the time when he won championships with Ginebra in 1986 and the grand slam season with Crispa in 1983.

But Slaughter was also a beast playing for Hills Brothers and led the Coffee Kings to an 89-87 triumph over the Gin Kings to earn the right to play the Beermen.

"I remember Jose Slaughter. Malakas sa transition, kasi nga malakas rin ang katawan, but more importantly, magaling sa 3-point shooting," said "The Trigger Man" Allan Caidic, who was playing as a rookie then for Great Taste.

Ironically, it was Caidic who surpassed Slaughter's record a few years later.

After setting the record for most number of 3-point shots for the local players of nine treys during the 1988 season, Caidic set his sights on achieving another milestone and he did that against Slaughter's former team, Alaska, while playing for the Presto Tivolis on November 2, 1989.

Caidic hit 15 3-point shots on his way to finishing with 68 points in Presto's 175-159 overtime win over Alaska.

"I know the record. After I set the record for most number of 3-point shots sa locals with 9 treys, I know that the record is 14 for the imports, which was ’yung kay Jose Slaughter nga, so my teammates helped me in achieving it during our game against Alaska," Caidic told ABS-CBN News in a telephone interview.

Caidic didn't only break Slaughter's most number of 3-point shots, but he also surpassed the 64-point performance of Danny Florencio and Bogs Adornado when he ended up with 68.

Two years later, Caidic would break his own record, hitting 17 3-point shots on November 21, 1991 during Presto's 162-149 win over Ginebra.

The lefty gunner also surpassed the 71-point performance of Bong Alvarez as he finished with 79 points during that game.

Those records are still unmatched until now.

Rey Joble is a sports journalist who has been covering the PBA since 1998, and followed the league as a fan way before that.

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