MIGHTY Sports Apparel Philippines fell short of another international title, suffering a heartbreaking 78-77 loss to the Shanghai Sharks in the final of the 2016 Merlion Cup basketball tournament Sunday in Singapore.
Three free throws by the Sharks’ top gunner, former NBA player Jimmer Fredette, with no time remaining gave the Chinese squad the Merlion Cup championship. Fredette, who was fouled by Alford Thornton in that play, finished with 41 points.
It was a sorry loss for Mighty Sports, which was bidding for back-to-back international titles after winning the William Jones Cup in Taiwan last July.
Meanwhile, the Mighty Sports organization, in a statement, thanked the Philippine Basketball Association, and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and GlobalPort Batang Pier ballclubs for their support.
“We thank the PBA, and Messrs. Terry Que and Raymund Yu of Rain or Shine, and Rep. Mikee Romero of GlobalPort for their generosity and understanding in allowing Joseph Yeo of the Batang Pier to play in the 2016 Merlion Cup and the Elasto Painters for allowing Jeric Teng to play in the 2016 William Jones Cup,” Mighty Sports said.
“Their commitment to Philippine basketball helped us bring glory to the country by winning the Jones Cup and finishing second in the Merlion Cup,” the organization added.
The country’s representative to the tournament revived after 20 years led by as many as 14 points early in the fourth quarter only to see its lead disappear on Fredette’s hot shooting.
A three-pointer by Shanghai’s Yabusele Gurschon at the 3:49 mark tied the game at 73.
Ravena answered back with a completed four-point play to put the Philippine side up but the Sharks cut the lead to two with 36 ticks left.
A Mighty Sports turnover with 17 seconds to go gave the Sharks a final shot at winning the game and the title. Fredette broke free and heaved a three-pointer but was fouled by Alford Thornton as time expired.
“We stuck to our game plan and it was working for us. It all boiled down to breaks. And they had an NBA-caliber player who took over the game. The Sharks deserved the win,” Mighty Sports head coach Charles Tiu said.
The scores:
Shanghai Sharks 78 J. Fredette 41, Liu X. 18, Y. Gurschon 11, Zang Z. 6, Cai L. 2, Wu G. 0, Zhai Y. 0, Ge Y. 0.
Mighty Sports 77 — A. Thornton 36, D. Spencer 13, K. Ravena 12, M. Wright 10, H. NDyiaye 4, M. Douthit 2, J. Brickman 0, J. Yeo 0.