Filipino basketball players on Sunday showed that they can dominate in various leagues around the world.
In the National Basketball League in Australia, Philippine phenom Kai Sotto and the Adelaide 36ers bagged a win in their first preseason game against Cairns Taipan via an overtime thriller, 91-87.
The 7’3” Sotto, who started the game, scored seven points, hauled five rebounds and rejected one shot in almost 20 minutes of action for the winning team.
In the extension, the 36ers dominantly opened the session on to a win, with Daniel Johnson spearheading his squad with 33 points and eight rebounds, while Tad Dufelmeier contributed 14 markers.
Sotto introduced himself in the league loud as he recorded his first points via an and-one dunk off a baseline attack.
The 19-year-old big and his squad will be back in action on November 16 (Tuesday) against the Perth Wildcats
Meanwhile, Fil-American Bobby Parks Jr. played strong all throughout and poured in 23 points for the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins in their 101-75 crushing of the Mikawa Seahorses in the 2021-22 B.League tournament at the Park Arena in Aichi, Japan.
This made up for Parks’ so-so performance when the Diamond Dolphins bowed to the Seahorses, 71-91, last Saturday.
Parks’ two charities in the last 1:02 of the game, saw the Diamond Dolphins taking a comfortable 99-75 cushion.
The Diamond Dolphins bagged their eighth win in 14 outings in the West Division, moving them to fourth position.
The 6’3” Parks, who only had four points on Saturday, joined forces with Tenketsu Harimoto during a 13-0 run in the opening minutes of the first quarter, allowing the Diamond Dragons to move out of range with a 20-7 spread.
In the second quarter, the 28-year-old Parks knocked in a driving shot in the last 3:10 of the second period, sending the Diamond Dragons ahead by 13, 35-22.
Parks then hit three triples in the third period, giving the Diamond Dolphins a 20-point edge, with 7:58 left.
Jarrod Uthoff knocked in 24 points for the Seahorses, who share third with the Shinsu Brave Warriors at 9-5.
Shinsu, which will also field in Matthew Aquino, son of former pro Marlou Aquino, turned back Kiefer Ravena’s Shiga Lakestars, 90-80, with Yuta Okada leading with 27 points.
The Lakestars, who are in sixth spot at 6-8, got 22 points from Novar Gadson, while Ravena had only seven.
At the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, in the United States, Fil-American sophomore Vanessa de Jesus made four points and dished out a game-high five assists to help the Duke Blue Devils pull off a 70-56 victory over the Dayton Flyers.
De Jesus ably backed up Lexi Gordon, who once again starred for the Devils as they posted their second straight win.
Gordon shot 15 points in powering the Blue Devils to a share of the early lead in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Shayean Day-Wilson had 13 points for the Blue Devils, who are on top of the standings with Notre Dame, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest University and the University of Miami.
Dayton (1-1) was led by Makira Cook with 18 points.