MIKEY Williams was on fire as he bannered Mighty Sports' second-half turnaround to down Beirut Sports Club, 91-77, and sweep Group B of the 2020 Dubai International Basketball Tournament Wednesday (Manila time).
The Fil-Am guard once again showed his range, waxing hot as he shot 6-of-8 from beyond the arc to finish with a team-high 22 points.
Williams got into the rhythm in Mighty's blazing 33-point third quarter, accounting for 11, as it flipped the game from a close 36-37 halftime deficit to a decisive 69-54 lead for the Filipinos.
He also collected four rebounds and four assists as the Philippine club got their fourth straight victory.
Renaldo Balkman also provided the goods with his 20 points, four boards, two assists, and two steals, while Andray Blatche tallied a double-double of 12 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists.
What a difference a half makes as Mighty, after gobbling up the ball 14 times in the first half, took good care of the ball and only had one turnover in that third quarter turnaround to wrest control of the game.
That wave of momentum trickled to the final frame, with Thirdy Ravena giving his side a 17-point lead, 78-61, with a split from the line with 7:08 remaining.
Elias Rustom threatened to keep Beirut Sports Club in the game as he cut the lead down to 10, 78-68, with 5:55 left, but Balkman quickly quashed that rally with a tough layup before McKenzie Moore put the game out of reach as he scored seven straight to restore order, 87-72, with less than three minutes left.
Moore got half of his 14 points in the payoff period, alongside seven rebounds, as Jamie Malonzo also scored 10 and grabbed four boards.
Mighty, which is backed by Creative Pacific Group, Go for Gold, Oriental Group, Discovery Primea, and Gatorade, now heads to the quarterfinals as the top seed.
The Charles Tiu-mentored squad will return on Thursday, still awaiting their matchup with one more gameday remaining.
Jerom Johnson topscored for the Lebanese side with 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals, as Rustom got 19 in the loss as they fell to a 1-3 slate.
The Scores:
MIGHTY SPORTS 91 -- Williams 22, Balkman 20, Moore 14, Blatche 12, Malonzo 10, Kendrick 6, Ravena 5, Go 2, Gomez de Liano 0, Belga 0, Ildefonso 0, Yeo 0.
BEIRUT SPORTS CLUB 77 -- Johnson 30, Rustom 19, Hawkins 11, Mezher 5, Chamoun 5, Ezzeddine 3, Aboud 2, Ziade 2, Akl 0, Abdel Masih 0.
Quarters: 21-24, 36-37, 69-54, 91-77.
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