By Adrian Stewart Co

Mighty Sports-Philippines entered the semifinals of the 30th Dubai International Basketball Championship after defeating Iran’s Oil Sports Club, 108-94, yesterday at the Shabab Al Ahli Club in Dubai, UAE.

Justin Brownlee top-scored for the Philippines with 26 points, eight boards, and seven assists; while University of the Philippines standout Juan Gomez de Liaño tallied 21 points, three steals, two assists, one board, and one block.

In addition, Jeremiah Gray and Roosevelt Adams scored 20 and 19 markers, respectively; while Randolph Morris finished with a double-double, putting up 16 points on top of 11 rebounds.

The team next faces Lebanon’s Al Riyadi this weekend.

“I like how the boys listened,” Mighty Sports head coach Charles Tiu said. “For once, they followed the game plan and respected our rules; that’s why we were really able to do a good job defensively.”

The Philippines surged to an early 29-18 lead, which increased to 54-33 late in the second period.

The Iraqis then answered with 13-3 run to come to within 11; however, that proved to be the closest they would get as the Philippines came up with baskets from Brownlee, Gray, Adams, and Morris to pad their lead, which grew to as much as 23 points, 85-62./ASC, WDJ