Mighty Sports-Go for Gold built on their impressive debut in the 2019 William Jones Cup with another easy victory on the second day, this time against Jordan, 90-74, Saturday afternoon at the Changhua County Stadium in Taipei.
Although things started slowly for the Philippine representative, they got going midway through the first quarter and never looked back. Jordan held a 12-11 advantage when the Mighty Sports unleashed a 10-4 run that gave them a 21-16 lead at the end of the first period.
Former PBA import Eugene Phelps powered the offense for Mighty Sports at the start of second quarter as he rifled off nine straight points, including a couple of and-one plays as Jordan could not find the antidote against him in the shaded area. The rest of the team started to chip in as they went in a 13-1 run capped by a basket from Roosevelt Adams to build a 39-22 advantage.
"Jordan is deep but they lost their best player and they are missing four key players," said head coach Charles Tiu. "We give our players a lot of freedom on offense but we demanded more effort on the defensive end and we kept Jordan below 75 points which was a target for us and they shot below 40%."
Mighty Sports- Go for Gold settled for a 44-29 lead at the end of the first half.
Jordan made a move on the Philippine team at the start of the third period but they simply did not have enough firepower to sustain it as Mighty Sports blew the game wide open, ending the third quarter up by 24 points, 68-44.
Phelps led Might Sports with 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the field, playing less than 20 minutes in the game. Renaldo Balkman added 17 points and seven rebounds as he also scored efficiently from the field, making six of his nine attempts.
Roosevelt Adams was the only other double-digit scorer as he finished with 11 points, anchored on three triples while Mikey Williams, Zach Graham, and McKenzie Moore all chipped in nine points.
Jordan, using the Jones Cup to help in their preparations for the upcoming 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, was led by Ibrahim Fadi with 13 points while Hashem Abbas with 12 and Yousef Abu Wazaneh with 11.
"Our halfcourt defense is good but we give our opponents multiple chances at scoring by giving up offensive rebounds," added Tiu as he was asked what his team needs to improve as they prepare for their next game against Japan.
"They are a solid team. They actually beat the Chinese Taipei A team," the coach added. "They have a very good coach and a good system also, it should be a tougher challenge for us against compared to Jordan.
SCORES
MIGHTY SPORTS 90 - Phelps 20, Balkman 17, Adams 11, Graham 9, Moore 9, Gray 8, Yeo 2, Ndiaye 2, Black 2, Brickman 1, Banal 0.
JORDAN 74 - Fadi 13, Abbas 12, Abuwazaneh 11, Abuhawwas 9, Alhamarsheh 7, Najdawi 7, Dasuqi 5, Alhendi 5, Abu Aboud 3, Obeid 2, Kanaan 0.
Quarters: 21-12; 44-29; 68-44; 90-74.