MANILA – Mighty Sports-Go For Gold Philippines recovered from a slow start to score a 116-87 victory over Canada-University of British Columbia in the 2019 William Jones Cup at the Changhuang Stadium in Taiwan.
Filipino-American guard Jeremiah Grey waxed hot with six triple to finish with 24 points on Monday.
With the victory, the Mighty Sports-Philippines remained on top of the standings (4-0 win-loss slate).
Renaldo Balkman chipped in 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four blocks.
Eugene Phelps had 22 points and nine rebounds.
Hamady N’Diaye contributed 15 markers.
The Canadians got to an early advantage in the opening quarter after nailing six three-pointers but the Philippines managed to close the gap at 26-27 heading into the second frame.
The Philippines, however, went on a huge rally in the second period behind Balkman, Phelps and Gray as they outscored the Canadians, 39-9, to establish a 65-36 halftime edge. The lead grew further for the Mighty Sports in the second half with shots from Balkman, Phelps and N’diaye for its biggest lead at 98-58 on hits from Gab Banal and Joseph Yeo.
After facing South Korea on Tuesday evening, the Philippine team takes a break today and tomorrow before rounding up their matches against Indonesia (July 19, 1 p.m.), Chinese-Taipei A (July 20, 7 p.m.) and Chinese-Taipei B (July 21, 5 p.m.)./PN
