DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Nanatiling matatag ang Mighty Sports at bawat humarang ay nakadama ng lupit ng Pinoy ball club.

Tampok ang kahanga-hangang dunk ni Fil-Am Jeremiah Gray sa harap ng depensa ni Syrian 7-foot-2 Abdulwahab Al Hamm, giniba ng Mighty Sports ang Al Wahda of Syria, 85—81, para manatiling walang gurlis patungo sa knockout quarterfinal stage ng 30th Dubai International Basketball Championship dito.

Sa harap nang nagbubunying local crowd na binubuo ng Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) ratsada sina Ginebra resident import Justin Brownlee at Randolf Morris para makopo ang ikaapat na sunod na panalo ng Mighty Sports.

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Hataw si Brownlee sa naiskor na 27 puntos, siyam na rebounds, tatlong assists at dalawang steals para sandigan ang Might Sports na pinangangasiwaan ng magkapatid na Alex at Caesar Wongchuking, sa pagtataguyod ng SMDC, Go For Gold, Oriental Group at Healthcube.

“I’m just happy with the win,” pahayag ni Mighty coach Charles Tiu. “We talked about it at the start of the tournament, 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 adversities.”

“Offensively, it will take care of itself, but defensively, we got stops when it mattered,” he added. “We played through the crazy officiating today, I mean a lot of bogus calls, the players were so upset, but it’s part of it, so that’s why I call this a character win,” aniya.

Tumapos si Adams na may 21 puntos mula sa 3-of-4 shooting sa three-point area, habang kumana ng pinagsamang 26 puntos sina Morris at Jason Brickman.

Matapos manguna sa Group B elimination, makakaharap ng Mighty Sports ang No. 4 team ng Group A.

Kumpiyansa si Tiu na mahihigitan ng koponan ang mga nakalipas na kampanya sa torneo. Huling nakopo ng Mighty Sports ang runner-up may apat na taon na ang nakalilipas.

Iskor:

MIGHTY (85) – Brownlee 27, Adams 21, Morris 19, Brickman 7, Gray 6, Gomez de Liaño 5, Odom 0, Santillan 0, Banal 0

AL WAHDA (81) – Adams 22, Abdullah 16, Alhamwi 13, Arbasha 11, Brown 10, Ali 6, Alosh 3, Hamad 0

Quarterscores: 18-23, 41-41, 60-65, 85-81