Mighty claims Jones Cup crown

MANILA, Philippines — Mighty Sports Apparel Phl hammered out a convincing 97-74 win over host Chinese Taipei A Saturday night to all but wrap up the 41st William Jones Cup crown at the Xinzhuang Gym in New Taipei City, Taiwan. 

The Philippine bet extended their unscathed campaign to 7-0, guaranteeing a repeat of their title run in 2016 even with one game left against Chinese Taipei B at the close of the tourney last night.

Regardless of the result, Mighty Sports would win the crown even in case of a tie with South Korea at 7-1. The Philippine representative topped the Koreans, 80-82.

But coach Charles Tiu and his wards were keen on matching Mighty Sports’ sweep feat three years ago.

Renaldo Balkman once again spearheaded Mighty’s attack with 21 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks in only 23 minutes of play. 

Eugene Phelps chipped in a 17-9 point-rebound output while Roosevelt Adams and McKenzie Moore added 13 and 10 markers, respectively.

Ying-Chun Chen and Chi-Wei Lee, on the other hand, piled up 19 and 13 points, respectively, in the foiled effort for the Taiwanese whose gold medal hopes vanished into thin air. 

Chinese Taipei A fell to 5-2 and was relegated to a virtual silver-medal match against SoKor (6-1) at the end of the prestigious eight-team Asian invitational crown.