Mighty Sports tames Dragons
SINGAPORE – PBA star Joseph Yeo and Fil- Canadian Matthew Wright took charge this time, leading Mighty Sports Apparel Philippines to a masterful 105-78 win over the Westport Malaysia Dragons and into the semis of the 2016 Merlion Cup Friday night at the OCBC Arena here.
Like in their scary 92-87 win over the Seoul Samsung Thunder, the country’s representative to the tournament revived after 20 years of hiatus started slow and trailed the Dragons, 17-16.
But Yeo keyed an 8-2 run to put Mighty Sports ahead, 24-19, at the end of the first quarter.
That was the start of Mighty Sports’ rampage as Wright and imports Dewarick Spencer and Al Thornton and Kiefer Ravena joined the fray to practically settle the outcome of the game after only three quarters as they surged to a commanding 77-51 advantage.
With the win, Mighty Sports, backed by HC Technology Pte. Ltd., Huishi International Group Co. Ltd., Cebuana Lhuillier and Scratch It, completed a two-game sweep of the Group B elims.
Mentored by Charles Tiu, Mighty Sports arranged a onegame semis showdown with the Singapore Slingers who finished second in Group A topped by the taller Shanghai Sharks.
Co- owned by former NBA star Yao Ming, the Sharks likewise swept their group elims after whipping the Slingers, 89-67.
The semis matches were being played at presstime with the winners facing each other in another one- game match for the title. The scores: Mighty Sports Apparel 105 – Wright 20, Yeo 16, Spencer 16, Thornton 14, Douthit 12, Ravena 8, Brickman 4, N’Dyiaye 4, Alolino 3, Deuthman 3, Ferre 3, G. Banal 3.
Westports Dragons 78 – Kuek 36, Wong 11, Ivan Yeo 8, Ting 6, Yim 5, Wright 4, Ho 4, Qiian 2, Soo 2, Ong 0.
Quarterscores: 24- 19, 53- 35, 77- 51, 105-78