SINGAPORE – Rain or Shine guard Chris Tiu is arriving today as Mighty Sports Apparel Philippines presses its bid for a final berth in the 2016 Merlion Cup basketball tournament.
Getting the green light from ROS owners Raymund Yu and Terry Que after the Painters missed playoffs of the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup, Tiu hopes to help younger brother Charles win his first international trophy as a coach.
This marks the first time that Xavier School’s deadly trio of Tiu, TY Tang and Joseph Yeo played together since their celebrated high school years.
The Philippine squad beat the tough Seoul Samsung Thunders, 92-87, Wednesday night at the OCBC Arena behind the big games of imports Alford Thornton, Dewarick Spencer and Hamady N’Dyiaye.
The team was playing the Westports Malaysia Dragons last night.
A victory over the Dragons will push Mighty Sports into the semifinals of the Merlion Cup, which is making a comeback after a 20-year hiatus under the aegis of the Basketball Association of Singapore.
Mighty Sports, which is supported by HC Technology Pte. Ltd., Huishi International Group Co. Ltd., Cebuana Lhuillier and Scratch It, is hoping to win back-to-back international titles after his historic win of the William Jones Cup tournament in Taiwan last July.
Aside from its imports, Mighty Sports enlisted former Gilas center Marcus Douthit, a naturalized Filipino, to bolster its ranks, along with PBA veteran Joseph Yeo, ex-pro TY Tang, former collegiate standouts Kiefer Ravena, Gelo Alolino, and Edrick Ferrer, Gabriel and Raphael Banal, and Frank Golla.
They are backed by Fil-Canadian Matthew Wright, and Fil-Americans Jason Brickman and Jason Deutchman.