Mighty Sports-Go for Gold Philippines took care of their first assignment in the 41st William Jones Cup after a 26-point drubbing of Iran, 98-72, at the Changhua gym in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
The Philippine contingent made the latter part of the second quarter the turning point of the game, closing the half with an 11-0 blitz to take a 46-33 lead.
It was more of Mighty in the third period, as they piled up on scoring against their Iranian opponents, with the spread eventually ballooning up to 25 points, 76-51, courtesy of an alley-oop finish from Hamady N'Diaye.
They also outscored their opponents 32-18 in the said quarter.
In the final chapter of the game, the Philippines pounced further on their opponents, eventually taking a 94-62 lead from a tough Michael Williams triple to seal the first win for Mighty.
Former Phoenix Fuel Masters import Eugene Phelps paced the squad of coach Charles Tiu with 22 points, while Jeremiah Gray added 16 markers, 12 of which were scored in the first half.
Vahid Dalirzahan meanwhile led Iran with a 14-point effort.
Action continues for the Philippines against Jordan on Saturday, July 13, at 1 p.m. in the same venue.
The Scores:
PHI (98) -- Phelps 24, Gray 16, Moore 15, Balkman 10, Williams 10, N'Diaye 9, Black 6, Adams 5, Brickman 3, Banal 0, Graham 0, Wongchuking 0.
IRI (72) -- V. Dalirzahan 14, Azari 12, Yousof Vand 12, Vahedi 8, Torabi 7, Monji 7, E. Dalirzahan 6, Dro 4, Bahram Zad 1, Miri 1, Aghajanpour 0.
Quarter Scores: 21-12, 46-33, 78-51, 98-72.