MANILA – Strong Group Athletics-Pilipinas overcame Japan U-22 men’s basketball team’s outside shooting for a 92-79 victory in the 43rd William Jones Cup on Friday at the Xinzhuang Stadium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Chris McCullough spearheaded the offense with 26 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block as the SGA-Pilipinas stayed on top in the standings with 6-0 win-loss slate.
Derrick Fenner Jr. added 17 markers, mostly coming in the second quarter, while Jordan Heading tallied 11 points, including two three-pointers for SGA-Pilipinas.
The Charles Tiu-mentored SGA-Pilipinas played against Japan U-22 without reinforcement Tajuan Agee (illness), naturalized player Angelo Kouame (knee) and Rhenz Abando (hand).
The SGA-Pilipinas surged to a 14-6 start behind conversions from McCullough and Kiefer Ravena, but Japan U-22 rode on their outside shooting to cut the deficit to 18-22.
Japan U-22 still keep the match close early in the second period but the SGA-Pilipinas responded with consecutive points from Fenner, McCullough, and Caelan Tiongson to widen the lead to 54-36 at the half.
In the third, Japan U-22 got their shots to fall anew to threaten to within 42-56, but SGA-Pilipinas had quick answers from Fenner and McCullough to raise the lead to 70-55.
Japan U-22 still tried to keep the match close in the fourth quarter, but SGA-Pilipinas got conversions from Geo Chiu and Allen Liwag to keep their opponent at bay.
Hiyuu Ozaw top-scored for Japan U-22 with 17 points, while John Lawrence Harper Jr., Ryosuke Saeki, and Ryosei Sato ended with 10 points apiece. They dropped to a 3-3 record.
The SGA-Pilipinas will conclude their campaign against Chinese Taipei B on Saturday afternoon and Chinese Taipei A on Sunday evening./PN
BOX SCORE:
SGA-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 79 — Ozaw 17, Harper 10, Saeki 10, Sato 10, Kibayashi 9, Sakai 6, Hasegawa 5, Kurokawa 3, Buto 3, Watanabe 2, Asai 2, Arai 2.
Quarterscores: 22-18, 54-36, 70-55, 92-79.
