MIGHTY SPORTS-Creative Pacific is glad to see Juan Gomez de Liaño and Thirdy Ravena finally made their presence felt for the Philippine side in the 31st Dubai International Basketball Championship at the Shabab Al Ahli Club.
The former collegiate rivals combined for six triples and provided the intangibles as the Philippine side rolled to to a 88-66 victory over Tunisia’s ES Rades - the most lopsided in its three victories in the group stage so far.
Gomez de Liaño was an impressive 4-of-5 shooting from the 3-point area for 12 points while Ravena added 8 points on 2-of-5 shooting. They struck hardest in the third that saw Mighty pull away to a 63-54 lead going into the payoff period.
Naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche and World Cup veteran Renaldo Balkman then took charge in the middle of the fourth to finally break the game wide open.
“It’s a good win for us,” said coach Charles Tiu who immediately dedicated the win to NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
“I’m happier this time coz two of our local standouts finally showed what they are capable of,” said team owner Alex Wongchuking.
For the third straight game, the 6-foot-10 Blatche tallied a double-double with 18 points and 13 boards to go with five assists while Balkman also finished with 18 points and six boads but turned the ball seven times for the team also backed by Go for Gold, Gatorade and Discovery Primea.
Tiu hopes to use the win as an added motivation when they battle last year’s runner-up Beirut Sports Club for Group B’s top seeding on Tuesday at 9 p.m. (1 a.m. Wednesday PH time).
Though already assured of a quarterfinals berth, Mighty Sports-Creative Pacific needs to prevail over the Lebanese squad to face the No. 4 team in Group A of 11-team tournament.
The scores:
MIGHTY SPORTS-CREATIVE 84 – Blatche 18, Balkman 18, Kendrick 13, Gomez de Liano 12, Ravena 8, Malonzo 4, Williams 3, Go 3.
ES RADES 66 – Grady 17, Qannouni 13, Dayfallah 9, Elahi 7, Tramesh 6, Alshanoufi 5, Okoroh 4, Buallaq 3, Rudsli 2.
Quarters: 19-18, 41-34, 63-54, 84-66.
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