Strong Group rolls past UAE to open Jones Cup campaign

The Philippines' Strong Group Athletics nearly had a meltdown, but recovered in the fourth period to eke out a 104-79 victory against United Arab Emirates to open its campaign at the 43rd William Jones Cup on Saturday in Taiwan. 

SGA, which is looking to complete the country's redemption bid in the annual tournament, kicked off its run with a 1-0 start while UAE slipped to 0-1 in the opening day of the contest. 

Reinforcements Tajuan Agee and Chris McCullough carried the scoring load in the third period, where SGA was able to mount a 24-point lead with the duo nailing back-to-back dunks for a 71-45 lead. 

But UAE retaliated thanks to important buckets from DeMarco Dickerson and Omar Alameri, whose triple to unfurl the fourth period cut their deficit to just 13 at 73-60 and pose a threat against the Philippine bet. 

But the wards of head coach Charles Tiu were unfazed, responding with a massive 21-4 rampage capped by a Dave Ildefonso basket that brought them to a 30-point cushion at 94-64 late in the frame. 

Geo Chiu then put the dagger with his two-handed slam off an RJ Abarrientos dime in the final 51 seconds, 104-77. 

Former San Miguel import McCullough paced SGA with a double-double effort of 15 points and 10 rebounds on top of five assists, four steals, and one block while Agee poured in 12 markers, nine boards, three swats, and one dime. 

Caelan Tiongson and Kiefer Ravena led the local support with 13 and 11 points apiece with the latter also grabbing eight assists. 

SGA will look to continue its winning ways right away on Sunday against BSBL Guardians of Australia at 1 p.m. while UAE hopes to bounce back when it takes on Chinese Taipei B later in the day. 

—JKC, GMA Integrated News