Vintage bombs maybe old, but they still work once lit up.
Gary David finished with only 15 points, but all of those came during the clutch, as he powered Mighty Sports-Philippines to a 94-80 win over Ball Above All in the 2017 Dubai International Basketball Championship Friday morning (Manila time) at the Al Ahli Sporting Club.
With the win over the Dubai-based club team, Mighty Sports capped off their Dubai stint strongly and will not go home blanked. The reigning William Jones Cup champions finished their campaign with a 1-5 record.
The 38-year-old’s scoring explosion happened in the payoff period. With Mighty Sports entering the frame behind by six, 66-60, David unleashed three booming triples in a fiery 13-4 spree to propel the Filipinos to a one-point lead, 69-68, with 7:01 on the clock.
Ball Above All played catch-up from then on. But just as they were about to reach nearer, David was there for Mighty Sports to repel all of their comeback attempts. He sank his fourth trey at the 3:26 mark, 81-75, and his fifth one with 2:01 to go, 86-76, to keep Ball Above All at bay.
The former PBA scoring champion finished with a 62.5 percent clip in the 14 minutes he played, hitting 5-of-8 from the floor — with all of it coming from rainbow country. David’s triples contributed to almost half of Mighty Sports’ 11 shots from deep.
Import Justin Brownlee has played consistently for six games in a row, as he led the Philippines with 25 points on an efficient 9-of-15 shooting, along with 14 rebounds for another double-double performance.
Jeron Teng finally found the rhythm he has been looking for in the past five games, leading the locals in scoring as he posted 22 points by going 8-of-13 from the perimeter. The six-foot-three forward also added four boards.
Ball Above All were paced by Bilal Abdullah’s 23 markers and nine rebounds. Rami Al Khatib backed him up with 18 points spiked by three triples.
Mighty Sports shot nearly 50 percent from the field, hitting 33 of their 70 attempts. Both squads had identical numbers on rebounds at 40 and assists at 10, but the Philippines’ bench outscored Ball Above All’s, 34-19.
The Scores:
Mighty Sports (94) – Brownlee 25, Teng 22, David 15, Intal 10, Araña 6, McGuire 5, Manuel 3, Tiu 3, Thabeet 3, Belga 2, Douthit 0, Miller 0.
Ball Above All (80) – Abdullah 23, Al Khatib 18, Chambers 10, Kasabali 7, Farouq 7, Nyadera 6, Bajric 6, Karkoukli 3, Abiad 0.
Quarterscores: 22-20, 48-40, 66-60, 94-80.
