MANILA, Philippines—Mighty Sports-Go for Gold has virtually captured the 2019 William Jones Cup title with still one more game on its schedule after blitzing past Taiwan A, 97-74, Saturday at Xinzhuang Gym in New Taipei City.
Unbeaten after seven games, the Philippine club will be crowned the Jones Cup champions for the second time regardless of the result of their games against Taiwan-B on Sunday by virtue of the winner-over-the-other rule.
South Korea, which is preparing for the 2019 Fiba Basketball World Cup, is the only team to get a chance at the title but Mighty Sports had already taken care of Asian powerhouse, 89-82, on Tuesday.
Renaldo Balkman led Mighty Sports with 21 points while Eugene Phelps added 17. Roosevelt Adams finished with 13, McKenzie Moore had 10 while Jeremiah Gray, Mikey Williams and Joseph Yeo teamed up for 22 points.
Mighty Sports, though, is ultimately aiming duplicate 8-0 slate like when it first won the title in 2016.