Jeff Hafer sets up to shoot during the 110-hour marathon basketball game

At the Missouri Athletic Club just across the street from the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, 24 basketball players are trying to break the world record of playing basketball for 110 straight hours. Steve Pona, one of the co-producers and players of this game talked with me around 6:15 this morning, and they just completed 49 hours of playing. Steve says they are concerned about reaching their goal, but don’t plan on not finishing.

AUDIO Interview with Steve Pona, one of the basketball players

Jeff Hafer, a former Missouri Tiger, is a Joplin native and junior varsity coach at Joplin High. He’s playing in the game and they are raising money for the Joplin Chamber of Commerce to help in the tornado recovery efforts. Steve says they’ve raised over $100,000 so far and want more.  Follow their progress on Facebook.

These guys aren’t loafing on the court either. Steve was on the trainer’s table when we talked getting a muscle worked on after he tried to block a shot. Yes, block a shot after hours of basketball.

So, what’s the score? 5,430 to 5,408 as of 49 hours and 15 minutes of playing. They’ve scored over a combined 10,000 points! Let me put that score in perspective for you. In the 49 plus hours they’ve played the equivalent of 74, 40-minute, college basketball games. Both teams are averaging about 73 points a game.