IT was pretty much the same heartbreaking story for Mighty Sports all over again in the Dubai International Basketball Tournament.
Mighty Sports dragged top seeded Al Riyadi in overtime but failed to get the job done and lost for the fifth straight game, 100-95, Wednesday night (Thursday morning, Manila time).
Branko Cvetkovic scored 13 of Al Riyadi's 20 points in the final five minutes as the fancied team narrowly escaped the Philippine side after losing a 13-point lead in the second quarter.
Chris Tiu's three pressure-packed free throws to end the regulation sent the game into overtime, and for a while, Mighty Sports looked poised of finally scoring a breakthrough win in the tournament.
Three consecutive triples courtesy of Willie Miller and Tiu gave Mighty a 91-87 lead midway through the extra period, before Cvetkovic began to take matter into his own hands.
The Serbian scored seven points during that stretch to help Al Riyadi regain control of the match in its way to completing a sweep of the eliminations with their sixth straight win.
Cvetkovic finished with 23 points while Abdul Wahab Aminu finished with 22 points and 10 boards.
Justin Brownlee was once again on the forefront of Mighty Sports’ offense with 27 points and 10 boards. Hasheem Thabeet also registered his best game in the tournament with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Tiu, starting in place of the injured Kiefer Ravena, led all locals in scoring with 11.
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