by Waylon Galvez
Game Today (Changhua County Gym in Changhua, Taiwan)
3 p.m. – Mighty Sports-PH vs UBC Thunderbirds Canada
Mighy Sports Go For Gold Philippines kept it’s record clean as it claimed its third straight win by beating Japan, 94-59, in the William Jones Cup Sunday at the Changhua County Gym in Changhua, Taiwan.
Former NBA player Renaldo Balkman produced another sterling perfomance as he collected 27 points and 12 rebounds in the team’s most lopsided win so far in the annual tournament.
It was a fitting display of skills for the Puerto Rican Balkman as he turned 34 Sunday.
Eugene Phelps, who like Balkman played in the PBA, contributed 19 points and seven rebounds for Mighy Sports, a team owned by Caesar Wongchuking and Alexander “Alex” Wongchuking.
Michael Williams aslo had a solid game for the Philippines with 17 points.
Prior to beating Japan, the Philipines of coach Charles Tiu defeated the national teams of Iran, 98-72, and Jordan, 90-74.
Next for Mighty Sports, also backed by Healthcube, is the UBC Thunderbirds of Canada – a winless team in two starts. The two squads clash at 3 p.m. Monday at the same venue.
With two wins, Mighty Sports is on track for a 10-game sweep, hoping to duplicate its dominant campaign back in 2016 when it won the championship with an 8-0 sweep of the tournament.
As for the Japanese, it was their first defeat in two games.
The scores:
MIGHTY SPORTS PHL 94 – Balkman 27, Phelps 19, Williams 17, Moore 8, Brickman 8, N’Diaye 7, Adams 6, Black 4, Graham 3, Gray 0, Banal 0, Wongchuking 0.
JAPAN 59 – Flippin 10, Ogawa 10, Schafer 8, Sh Ando 8, Hashimoto 8, Hoshino 6, Se Ando 4, Williams 4, Toews 1, Hiraiwa 0, Nakamura 0, Harimoto 0.
Quarters: 22-17; 38-26; 69-49; 94-59.
