Mighty Sports-Philippines have now lost twice in a row, as their comeback attempt fell short versus the Egypt National Team, 84-82, in the 2017 Dubai Invitational Basketball Tournament, Sunday morning Manila time.
Similar to yesterday’s loss to AS Sale, it was again the duo of Justin Brownlee and Kiefer Ravena that led Mighty Sports’ attack. Brownlee had 27 points by hitting 11-of-17, while Ravena supplied 10 and a team-high five assists.
The Philippine side were buried by as much as 18 in the third period, but were able to wipe it out and managed to close by just a field goal, 82-80, after a pair of made free throws by Ravena with 16.9 ticks to go in the payoff period.
With time winding down, Mighty Sports resorted to the fouling game to freeze the clock. Amro Abdelhali, however, nailed both of his charities to widen the gap for Egypt, 84-80, with just 13.1 seconds remaining.
Right from receiving Brownlee’s dish, Ravena then attacked Egypt’s wide gap on zone defense for an easy deuce to lift Mighty Sports closer again, 84-82, with 7.3 left. They then fouled once more to send Egypt back to the line and stop the clock.
This time, Youssef Aboushousha botched both of his foul shots. Dominic McGuire hauled down the miss and passed it to Brownlee, who quickly threw it to Ravena. Ravena pulled up for a three for the potential game-winner, but his shot missed, helping Egypt escape with the narrow win.
Moatazpellah Okasha paced the Egyptians with 24 points highlighted by four treys. Abdelhalim produced 20 points, while Ramy Abdallah chipped in 10 markers in the national team’s first win in the tournament.
Mighty Sports shot notably from the field, going 34-of-62 en route to a 54 percent clip. However, they were edged out in triples made. They only had eight, while Egypt converted 13, with 10 of those coming in the first half.
Both squads grabbed the same amount of rebounds at 29 apiece. However, the Filipinos had more points inside the paint, 46-24; more points off turnovers; 20-17, and scored more through second chances, 12-9.
Mighty Sports-Philippines will try to barge into the winning column as they go up against Lebanese club team CS Sagesse tomorrow, Monday, still at 1:00 AM Manila time.
The Scores:
Egypt (84) – Okasha 24, Abdelhalim 20, Abdallah 10, Aboushousha 8, Mostafa Elnemr 7, Elgammal 5, Said 4, Oraby 4, Abouelrish 2, Tawfik 0, Eldahsnan 0.
Mighty Sports (82) – Brownlee 27, Ravena 10, Teng 9, Thabeet 9, McGuire 8, Banal 7, Intal 3, David 3, Tiu 2, Douthit 2, Miller 2, Araña 0.
Quarterscores: 22-19, 45-33, 60-48, 84-82.
