Philippines Basketball
Eros Villanueva 5y

Mighty Sports stays unbeaten in Jones Cup after dumping Canada

Mighty Sports-Go for Gold Philippines used a massive second quarter attack to steamroll past University of British Columbia-Canada, 116-87, and stay unblemished in the 2019 William Jones Cup on Monday at the Changua County Stadium in Taipei.

The Philippines is now tied atop the standings with Korea at 4-0, but had to overcome yet another sluggish first quarter start against a Canadian team that got off to a hot start.

UBC's Patrick Simon caught fire and scored the team's first 11 points, nine of which came from the three-point area, as Mighty Sports struggled to close out on Canada's shooters.

Renaldo Balkman later came off the bench and injected some energy into the lineup by muscling his way to two consecutive three-point plays and assisting on a Mikey Williams trey. The Philippines briefly snatched the lead, 25-23.

Mighty Sports pulled the rug under Canada in the second period, where they entered trailing 26-27. Balkman and Eugene Phelps conspired for a short 7-0 run before the Philippines unleashed a back-breaking 29-4 run, including 17 unanswered points at one point, from the seven-minute mark up until the break to turn a slim 36-32 lead into a huge 65-36 advantage.

The relentless barrage continued in the second half for Mighty Sports as 11 straight points from Jeremiah Gray and a Williams triple quickly took the fight out of the deflated Canadians, which fell to 0-4 in the tournament.

Gray paced the Philippines with 24 points, on 6-of-8 shooting from downtown, three rebounds and four assists. Balkman had his fingerprints all over the action and tallied 22 points, six rebounds, six assists, four blocks and two steals, while Phelps logged a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Simon and Taylor Browne both scored 25 points and combined for 11 of Canada's threes. Grant Shepard chipped in 14 points and eight boards.

THE SCORES

Mighty Sports (116) - Gray 25, Balkman 22, Phelps 20, Ndiaye 15, Williams 9, Banal 7, Yeo 7, Adams 4, Graham 3, Black 2, Wongchuking 2, Brickman 0.

UBC-Canada (87) - Simon 25, Browne 25, Shepard 14, Cruz-Dumont 8, Rosebush 5, Audu 5, Bourcier 3, Wallack 2, Familia 0, Clair 0, Morrison 0.

Quarters: 26-27, 65-36, 98-58, 116-87.

EXTRA DRIBBLES

- Canada shot just 1-for-9 from the arc in the second quarter while the Philippines posted a 65% shooting clip at the half.

- McKenzie Moore sat out the match to rest a sprained ankle he suffered in the third quarter of Mighty Sports' win over Japan last Sunday.

NEXT GAME

Mighty Sports vs. Korea on July 16, 5 p.m

^ Back to Top ^