Philadelphia native Yazid Powell scored a rousing 81 points on Monday to honor former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who died on Sunday morning in a helicopter crash alongside his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers.
Powell, a 6-foot-4 guard for the Community College of Beaver County, even air-balled his last free throw to remain at 81 points and pay homage to the former Lakers star, who scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006.
Tonight I scored 81 points in the honor of my idol, favorite player, and someone who is the reason I start playing basketball this mean so much to me I want to thank my teammates and coaches for allowing me to accomplish this 💯💯❤️ #DaTicket4200 #RipKobe #RipGiGi 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/f7RAeXfYOV
— ZID (@zidpowell) January 28, 2020
While only a freshman, honoring his idol with an 81-point game is no small feat.
The CC Beaver County Titans had only lost one game this season, a 92-90 overtime loss to Harcum College in a Philly Juco Classic Tournament. They stand at 18-1, blowing out their last five opponents by an average of 67.2 points — that's not a typo.
The Titans blew out Butler County Community College 147-61, letting Powell do all the damage in only 31 minutes of action.
Powell was all buckets, canning 35-of-52 from the floor (67.3%), 7-of-17 from deep, and mustering 4-of-6 from the foul line, even after air-balling his last free throw.
Yet the freshman guard was not the only one reaping in this feast. Point guard Rasheed Browne racked up 15 points and a whopping 24 assists, almost racking up a triple-double with eight steals to his tally. Tyree Corbett also had 21 rebounds off the bench.
In true “Mamba Mentality” fashion, Powell had no rebounds and no assists in his 81-point night but did muster three steals in the contest — one that will be forever engraved in Philly folklore as natives mourn the loss of the great Kobe Bryant.
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