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 .
