MANILA, Philippines – It’s seventh heaven for Strong Group-Pilipinas after it hiked its 2024 William Jones Cup record to 7-0 off a 96-70 blowout of Chinese Taipei-White in Taiwan on Saturday, July 20.
Super import Chris McCullough made a living at the line to finish with 25 points on 10-of-13 free throw shooting, while veteran guard Kiefer Ravena sparked the bench mob with 14 points.
New Ginebra rookie guard RJ Abarrientos continued his overseas audition of sorts with 13 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds, as Strong Group next faces Chinese Taipei-Blue in the virtual gold-medal match on Sunday, July 21, 7 pm.
Despite missing the services of naturalized Filipino center Ange Kouame, import Tajuan Agee, and Gilas Pilipinas high-flyer Rhenz Abando, super-stacked Strong Group hardly noticed its personnel issues after setting the tone with a 20-5 blast right from the opening tip.
The upstart Taiwanese never threatened to upend the game’s fate from that early point as Strong Group created as high as a 31-point separation, 94-63, off an Abarrientos long bomb with the game all but decided in the latter half of the fourth quarter.
Filipino-American DJ Fenner added 12 points and 5 rebounds in the easy win, backstopped by 11 from Jordan Heading and a 6-point, 10-board outing from Geo Chiu.
Chang Chia He paced the loss with 16 points on a perfect 7-of-7 clip and 2-of-2 from three, while Lin Yan Ting scattered 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists as Chinese Taipei-White fell to a 3-4 slate in the weeklong, daily tournament.
Strong Group-Pilipinas 96 – McCullough 25, Ravena 14, Abarrientos 13, Fenner 12, Heading 11, Chiu 6, Ynot 6, Manalili 4, Ildefonso 3, Liwag 2.
Chinese Taipei-White 70 – Chang 16, Lin 12, Mbaye 8, Kuan 8, Chen Y. 8, Chen L. 6, Yu A. 4, Wu 3, Hu 2, Yu F. 2, Chiang 1, Wang 0.
Quarters: 30-15, 57-31, 80-54, 96-70.
– Rappler.com
