The Westports Malaysia Dragons bravely hung tough against the Chong Son Kung Fu Basketball Club for an entire half but the founding member of the ABL succumbed to the rookie club’s superior firepower.
Kung Fu took control of the game completely with a 31-17 third quarter as they bounced back from their first loss with a 96-79 victory over the Dragons, Thursday night at the Nanhai Gymnasium.
Mikh McKinney exploded with 32 points in the game on 13 of 22 shooting from the field while adding 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Anthony Tucker was his main backup as he almost grabbed another triple-double with 21 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists in the contest.
Chong Son started the game game wanting to take command early. McKinney opened the scoring with a three and Caelan Tiongson gave them their first double-digit lead of the game, 15-5, halfway through the opener with a couple of free throws. The home team led 26-13 at the half but the Dragons would put up a big fight in the second quarter.
Powered by Joshua Munzon an AJ West, Westports Malaysia roared back into life in the second period as the Heritage Import scored 14 points in the quarter while the World Import added 12.
The two combined for all except 5 for the Dragons’ 31 points in the second with only Marcus Marshall and Wong Yi Hou helping out with the scoring.
A different Chong Son Kung Fu team emerged from the dugout as McKinney and Tiongson took charge. The two countered the big quarter from Munzon and West by combining for 20 points in the third and grabbing a commanding 79-61 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
The lead ballooned to 26 points in the final period for Chong Son Kung Fu after back to back triples from McKinney and Tucker before settling for the 17-point win.
Tiongson followed up his career game versus Saigon with an 18-point, 8-rebound effort against the Dragons. Justin Howard grabbed another double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Munzon led the fight for Westports Malaysia with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals while West added 19 points and 7 rebounds but the Dragons failed to make a run in the second half as their usually high-scoring import Marshall only finished with 11 points on 2 of 13 shooting from the field.
