Mighty Sports-Go for Gold Philippines collected its third win in as many games in the 2019 William Jones Cup at the expense of Japan, 94-59, Sunday at the Changua County Stadium in Taipei.
Renaldo Balkman scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Philippine contingent, which used a huge third quarter spurt to put the game out of reach and grab their most impressive win in the tournament so far.
Japan took an early seven-point lead in the first quarter behind baskets from Seiya Ando and Kosuke Hashimoto, but Mighty Sports bucked another slow start by unleashing a 13-0 run, capped with a basket from Eugene Phelps.
The Philippines later clamped down on the Japanese shooters, who shot 0-of-8 from downtown in the second quarter after going 3-of-9 in the opening period, to take a comfortable 38-26 lead at the half.
Mighty Sports came out firing after the break and blew the game wide open, going off on a 9-2 surge to later build a 23-point lead. Things weren't any different in the final period as the Philippines continued its onslaught to improve to 3-0.
Phelps finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Michael Williams chipped in 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals for Mighty Sports, which will face Canada Monday afternoon.
Haruta Ogawa and Koh Flippin scored 10 points each for Japan, which slid to 1-1 in the tournament.
THE SCORES
Mighty Sports - Balkman 27, Phelps 19, Williams 17, Brickman 8, Moore 8, Adams 6, Black 4, Graham 3, Ndiaye 2, Gray 0.
Japan - Flippin 10, Ogawa 10, Ando Se. 8, Hashimoto 8, Schafer 8, Hoshino 6, Ando Sh. 4, Williams 4, Toews 1, Hiraiwa 0, Nakamuta 0, Harimoto 0.
Quarters: 22-17, 38-36, 69-49, 94-59.
EXTRA DRIBBLES
- McKenzie Moore sprained his left ankle with 2:59 left in the third quarter and sat out the rest of the game. He finished with eight points, two rebounds and four assists in almost 18 minutes of play.
- Mighty Sports did a good job of neutralizing Hashimoto and Ando, who combined for 37 points in Japan's win against Taipei the other day. The two only scored eight points apiece; Ando went 2-for-12, while Hashimoto shot 2-for-9.
NEXT GAME
- Mighty Sports vs. Canada on July 15, 3pm