Mighty Sports holds off gritty Korean quintet

MANILA, Philippines — Mighty Sports fended off a strong resistance by South Korea and pulled off an 89-82 decision in a battle of unbeaten teams in the 41st Jones Cup at the Changhua Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan yesterday.

Renaldo Balkman continued to be the leader for Mighty, piling up 19 points, eight rebounds and two blocks while McKenzie Moore put up 17 markers, four rebounds and four assists.

With the usually steady Mikey Williams, Jeremiah Gray and Roosevelt Adams struggling, Eugene Phelps and Zach Graham were the other imports that delivered as Mighty Sports grabbed solo lead with a fifth straight win.

Phelps and Graham combined for 30 markers.

Mighty Sports, which is representing the country under the tutelage of head coach Charles Tiu, preserved its unbeaten run and moved closer to a repeat of its sweet sweep in 2016.

After winning their first four games by a whopping average margin of 26 points, the Philippine representative looked headed for another lopsided win in taking the half at 51-38.

But the South Koreans displayed their deadly shooting in a 28-9 third-quarter onslaught to take the driver’s seat at 66-60.

SoKor managed to protect it at 73-72 midway through the final canto before Mighty Sports uncorked an 11-3 blast capped by a Hamady N’Diaye slam to regain the lead at 83-76 in the last one-minute mark.

Ra Guna paced the South Koreans with 24 points and nine rebounds.

Choi Junyong added 14 markers while Lee Junghyun and Lee Daesung contributed 11 apiece for SoKor which dropped to 4-1.