Strong Group Athletics (SGA) Philippines spoiled the 43rd William Jones Cup campaign of hometown bets Chinese Taipei to clinch the tournament’s championship.
The Charles Tiu-mentored squad reclaimed Jones Cup glory after they stunned Chinese Taipei-A in overtime, 83-79, during their clash in New Taipei City on Sunday evening, July 21.
Tajuan Agee headed SGA with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, a block, and a perfect nine-of-nine from the freethrow line, while following him was DJ Fenner with 15 markers, nine boards and four steals.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel-bound RJ Abarrientos hit some clutch shots and finished with 14 points on four-of-eight shooting from the three-point line, and Chris McCullough had 12.
Also standing out is veteran guard Kiefer Ravena as he contributed nine points, all from beyond the arc. In addition to his four rebounds, four assists and two steals, one of his treys came in the crucial fourth-quarter fightback of Strong Group.
As SGA was up by two, 80-78, with under 20 seconds left in overtime and with both McCullough and Agee fouling out, Cien Hao Ma split his charities to get Taipei to within one.
Jordan Heading converted his pair of free throws on the next play to create a three-point cushion with only 12.2 remaining on the clock, and Taiwan failed to get an attempt as Fenner stole the ball and eventually ended the game by going one-of-two from the 15-foot-line.
In regulation, ahead by five early in the final canto, the Philippines suddenly found themselves down by four, 61-57, after an 11-to-2 run by Taiwan which was ended by a triple by Cheng Yin Chun with over six minutes left in the contest.
A three-pointer by Hsiang Chun Tseng in their following possession extended Taipei’s lead to six, but Abarrientos kept SGA afloat, 64-61, as he answered back with his own triple.
Later on, Cheng hit another jumper to hold a 69-64 advantage, while the Philippines suddenly fired blanks in their next attempts as regulation neared its end.
Tseng then increased their lead to seven, 71-64, but a pair of perfect trips from Ajee and a lay-in by Heading off a steal by Ravena gave SGA hope as they got to within one, 71-70.
The former Ateneo de Manila University star then drained a crucial triple to overtake Taiwan, 73-71, but a Brandon Gilbeck putback kept the home squad alive and eventually sent the game to overtime.
Robert Tsang Hinton led Taiwan’s failed attempt at the title with 16 points, Chen followed with 13, and Gilbeck and Tseng scored 11 and 10, respectively.
Meanwhile, this is the Philippines’ seventh Jones Cup championship, with the last one coming from Tiu’s 2019 Mighty Sports-Philippines team.
SGA ended the nine-club tourney with eight victories in as many games.
On the other hand, this is Chinese Taipei-A’s lone defeat in the 43rd Jones Cup. (ABS-CBN News)