MANILA – Mighty Sports-Philippines survived a tough challenge from Syria’s Al Wahda Club to score an 85-81 win in the 30th Dubai International Championship on Wednesday at the Shabab Al-Ahli Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Justin Brownlee bucked knee pain and dizziness to finish with 27 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while fellow import Randolph Morris added 19 points, six boards, three assists, two blocks, and one steal.
Filipino-American Roosevelt Adams also came up with impressive numbers of 21 points, including four triples, seven rebounds and two steals for the Philippine squad, which finished it group stage games at 4-0.
Unlike in their first three matches, the Mighty Sports were trailing for most part of the game and were down 70-76 with four minutes in the game following a basket from Al Wahda’s Jordan Adams.
Mighty Sports then made its move with Roosevelt draining four straight points and Morris converting from the free throw line for a deadlock before the Philippines seized the lead on a Brownlee triple.
The Philippine representatives went on to score five more points to complete the 14-0 scoring run to kick the Syrian squad to second place in the group with 2-1 win-loss slate.
“I’m just happy with the win,” Mighty Sports head coach Charles Tiu said. “Earlier, I told the team that we still haven’t faced adversity, and that when the time comes, we have to stick together, so today, we faced a lot of adversity.”
As the top seed in its group, the Mighty Sports will enters the knockout quarterfinals stage against the fourth seed of the other bracket that’s going to be either an Iraqi or Moroccan club./PN
