Back on top: Strong Group completes 8-0 sweep to reclaim Jones Cup title for Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – The William Jones Cup title is back at the hands of the Filipinos. 

After a disappointing seventh-place finish by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, the country’s representative last year, Strong Group-Pilipinas reclaimed the Jones Cup crown for the Philippines with a thrilling 83-79 overtime win over Chinese Taipei-Blue in their virtual gold-medal showdown on Sunday, July 21, at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in Taiwan.

The Philippines last ruled the tournament back in 2019, under the Mighty Sports team, which was also coached by Strong Group tactician Charles Tiu. 

After missing Strong Group’s past two games due to food poisoning, American import Tajuan Agee carried the Philippines on his shoulders as he produced a game-high 21 points on a perfect 9-of-9 clip from the foul line, to go with 9 rebounds.  

Filipino-American guard DJ Fenner backstopped the 6-foot-9 Agee with 15 points and 9 rebounds, while Barangay Ginebra rookie RJ Abarrientos stepped up big with 14 markers on 4-of-8 shooting from deep, as Strong Group’s super import Chris McCullough struggled mightily the whole contest. 

For the first time in eight outings, McCullough did not lead the Philippines in scoring as he finished with a tournament-low 12 points on a lowly 4-of-16 field goal clip. 

Still, McCullough delivered when it mattered most as his lone basket in overtime prior to fouling out gave Strong Group a crucial 80-78 lead with 2:43 left in the game – which the Filipinos kept the rest of the way. 

With the erstwhile unbeaten Chinese Taipei-Blue threatening to pull away with a 71-64 advantage with just 1:08 to play in the final frame, Strong Group fought back and went on a huge 9-0 run, capped by a Kiefer Ravena triple, for a 73-71 lead with only 13.2 seconds remaining. 

However, Chinese Taipei-Blue’s naturalized player Brandon Gilbeck managed to tie the game in the next play with a putback layup off a blocked shot by Rhenz Abando. 

Strong Group had one final chance to win it all in regulation, but Ravena’s potential game-winning midrange jumper failed to hit the mark as time expired. 

In overtime, Chinese Taipei-Blue had an opportunity to tie the game once again at 80-all with 14.4 seconds left, but Jianhao Ma could only connect on one of his two free throws.  

Jordan Heading and Fenner then sealed the win for Strong Group with three straight charities as they completed the dominant 8-0 sweep of the single round-robin tournament. 

Ravena contributed 9 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while Abando and Heading chipped in 6 and 4 markers, respectively.

On the other side, Robert Hinton topscored for Chinese Taipei-Blue with 16 points, while Ying-Chun Chen added 13.

The Scores

Philippines 83 – Agee 21, Fenner 15, Abarrientos 14, McCullough 12, Ravena 9, Abando 6, Heading 4, Kouame 2, Tiongson 0. 

Chinese Taipei-Blue 79 – Hinton R. 16, Chen 13, Gilbeck 11, Xiangjun 10, Liu 8, Hinton A. 8, Ma 6, Su 5, Gao 2, Han 0. 

Quarters: 16-12, 41-34, 55-50, 73-73 (reg.), 83-79 (OT).

– Rappler.com