King was practically unstoppable inside as he continuously turned the Bombers' interior defence inside out with brute strength and an array of classy drives.
Bombers centre Jack Stirling had the unenviable task of defending the Nuggets forward for the majority of the game. Even when the Bombers double-teamed him, he generally found a way to score or draw a foul.
As well as accounting for almost half of Varsity's points, King dominated the glass and made sure his side had a constant flow of second and third chance points.
Ollie Smith (19 points) and Emerson Watson (17) were also outstanding for Varsity, which suddenly looks like a team no-one would want to meet in the playoffs, should it sneak in.
King, Smith and Watson have combined for 140 points the past two weeks. However, even if the students win their final two regular season games, it is highly unlikely they will make the top four.
King's monster haul more than cancelled out Steve Robinson's 34 points in his return from injury for the sinking Bombers.
The Bombers have now lost four straight games after rattling off nine straight wins to open the season.
After a tight first quarter, Varsity held a double-digit lead for the majority of the final three quarters. The lead ballooned out to 20 points early in the final quarter, before a late Bombers' run gave the scoreboard a look of respectability.
Despite having a playoff spot sowed up, the Bombers will want nothing more than to find some winning form in their final two regular season games.
In the late game, the St Kilda Saints (9-2) moved to the top of the competition standings with an 88-61 thumping of Magic A (4-9).
St Kilda's fifth straight win, and third against the defending champion this season, sees it unseat the Bombers as the No 1 seed with two regular season games remaining.
The Saints also have two deferred games against Otago Boys' High School to catch up. Damon Cleverley led all scorers with 21 points and was one of five Saints to score at least 10 points.
Thomas Tindale (17 points), James Ross (14), Stanley Williams (12) and Sam Neame (10) rounded off a balanced performance from the silky smooth Saints.
Despite Tom Ingham being unavailable for the match, the Saints burst out to an 11-0 lead in the first two minutes and led for the entire match.
Magic guards Sheldon McGuire and Liam Rawstorn each landed a pair of three-pointers to pull to within a point after the first quarter 19-18.
However, the long-range bombs dried up in the second quarter as the Saints powered out to a 45-27 lead at halftime.
Despite the loss, the Magic sits in fifth place on the ladder and still has a chance of making the top four.
The Otago Boys' High School and Falcons A game was deferred.
• Two Otago teams finished third at national tournaments at the weekend.
The under-19 women beat Waitakere West 70-59 in the third-fourth playoff in Nelson, and Aleisha Ruske and Whitnee Wehi were named in the tournament team.
In Wellington, the under-15 girls beat Tasman 58-54 in the third-fourth playoff.
Otago's under-19 men's team was beaten 95-88 by Taranaki and finished fourth in Nelson. It also had two players, Joseph Cook-Green and Sam Timmins, named in the tournament team.
By Robert van Royen.
