SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
MANILA, Philippines – Strong Group-Pilipinas got off to a dominant 2-0 start in the 43rd William Jones Cup after posting yet another convincing win, this time against Australia’s BSBL Guardians, 91-69, on Sunday, July 14, at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in Taiwan.
For the second game in a row, former San Miguel star import Chris McCullough led the charge for the Filipinos as he went off for 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting in just 22 minutes of play.
McCullough had a team-best 15 points in Strong Group’s 104-79 opening-day beating of United Arab Emirates on Saturday, July 13.
The three-year NBA veteran McCullough came out with guns blazing from the tip-off as he dropped 10 of his 23 points in just the first 10 minutes – matching the Aussies’ total scoring output in the opening frame.
Led by McCullough’s fiery start, as well as Ange Kouame’s 8 first-quarter points, Strong Group easily built a huge 24-point edge over BSBL heading into the second period, 34-10.
After leading by as many as 32 points in the second quarter, 49-17, Strong Group’s offense slowed down a bit in the second half as the Guardians managed to pull within 16 points in the dying minutes of the final frame, 67-83.
Unfortunately for the Aussies, Rhenz Abando immediately restored order for Strong Group with a thunderous poster dunk over BSBL’s Caden Bentley to put the nail in the coffin.
Kouame racked up a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, while American import Tajuan Agee tallied 14 markers for Strong Group.
Jordan Heading once again drained three long bombs to finish with 9 points, while Dave Ildefonso and RJ Abarrientos scored 7 and 6 points, respectively.
On the other side, Jesse Ghee topscored with 19 points for BSBL, which dropped to 0-2.
Strong Group looks to stay undefeated when it collides with the Ukraine national team on Monday, July 15, at 5 pm.
The Scores
Strong Group 91 – McCullough 23, Kouame 16, Agee 14, Heading 9, Ildefonso 7, Abarrientos 6, Tiongson 4, Abando 4, Ravena 3, Manalili 2, Fenner 2, Liwag 1.
Australia 69 – Ghee 19, Bior 14, Howey 12, Magier 12, Bentley 5, Trego 3, Wilson 2, Zhu 2, Zarco 0, Pang 0, Chen 0, Weng 0.
Quarters: 34-10, 49-24, 72-51, 91-69.
– Rappler.com
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.