STRONG Group Athletics-Pilipinas continued its winning ways even with a shorthanded lineup, taking care of business against Japan’s Under-22 national team, 92-79, on Friday in the 43rd William Jones Cup at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Chris McCullough kept up his hot streak for SGA-Pilipinas with 26 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals, as the Philippines won even without big man Ange Kouame, do-it-all Rhenz Abando, and import Tajuan Agee.
Kouame and Abando are dealing with knee and hand injuries, respectively, while Agee has an illness.
READ: Kouame, Agee, Abando ruled out of Strong Group game vs Japan U22
With the victory, SGA-Pilipinas is now two wins away from capturing the championship, as it goes up against Chinese Taipei-B on Saturday, 5 p.m., and Chinese Taipei-A on Sunday, 7 p.m.
Chinese Taipei-A is the only other unbeaten team in the tournament with a 5-0 win-loss record, as of posting time.
A second period burst enabled the Filipinos to pull away, building a 54-36 lead thanks to a 32-18 quarter.
Derrick Fenner added 17 points, three rebounds, and two assists, while Jordan Heading had 11 points and shot 2-of-4 from three-point range for SGA-Pilipinas, which led by as many as 24 in the contest.
The scores:
Strong Group Athletics-Pilipinas 92 – McCullough 26, Fenner 17, Heading 11, Ravena 9, Chiu 8, Abarrientos 5, Tiongson 4, Ynot 4, Liwag 4, Ildefonso 2, Manalili 2.
Japan U22 79 – Ozawa 17, Harper 10, Saeki 10, Sato 10, Kibayashi 9, Sakai 6, Hasegawa 5, Kurokawa 3, Buto 3, Asai 2, Arai 2, Watanabe 2.
Quarters: 22-18; 54-36; 70-55; 92-79.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
