Strong Group crushes Beirut, wins fourth straight

STRONG Group Athletics maintained their dominance in the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship by defeating Beirut Sports Club 95-73, early Wednesday morning.

SGA jumped out to an early 12-point lead, 32-20, at the end of the first quarter. All thanks to their players, particularly Dwight Howard, who maximized their presence in the shaded area. 

The key to their blowout victory, however, was their excellent second quarter, in which the margin grew to 21, 58-37, giving the Frank Lao-owned team a comfortable cushion heading into the second half.

The team continued to shoot well from beyond the arc, with Kevin Quiambao finishing the quarter with a 4-point play.

This was enough to separate the loaded Philippine club team, which never looked back after persistently displaying a scorching shooting night along with their smothering tight defense.

As shots began to fall for Moore, Cagulangan, and Heading, the Philippine team maintained a game-high 27-point lead.

Beirut was able to claw back in, cutting the margin to 13 with less than eight minutes remaining in the game. However, SGA was simply too good, as Beirut was unable to reduce the deficit to single digits.

Quiambao, Muntinlupa’s pride, delivered another solid effort, continuing to be the team’s driving force, with 20 points and four rebounds.

Photo Courtesy: UAE Basketball Association | Facebook

For the reigning UAAP MVP, his consistent run of excellent outputs means a lot to him, “Sobrang special dahil coming from a game nga na maganda, tatlong sunod na laro, eto nanaman nasundan nanaman.”

“Sumunod lang ako sa sistema ni Coach Charles [Tiu] and sa buong coaching staff. Thankful ako na nakuha namin ‘yung panalo, and nakukuha ko palagi ‘yung breakout game ko,” Quiambao remarked, explaining the secret to his breakout run.

McKenzie Moore backed up his performance with 19 points, eight assists, and five rebounds. Jordan Heading scored 15 points, and Dwight Howard had 11 points and nine rebounds.

JD Cagulangan, who suffered an ankle injury in the fourth quarter, was also having his finest game of the tournament thus far, with 12 points and six assists in about 17 minutes.

Looking to sweep the elimination phase, the unbeaten Strong Group will face the only other undefeated team in Group B after four games, Al Ahli Tripoli Libya, at 1:15 a.m. (Manila time).