MANILA, Philippines – There’s no stopping Strong Group Athletics in the Dubai International Basketball Championship.
Led this time by DeMarcus Cousins, Strong Group remained undefeated in three games after taking down erstwhile unbeaten Beirut Sports Club, 85-78, at the Al Nasr Club on Monday, January 27 (Tuesday, January 28, Manila time).
Cousins showed why he was once a former NBA star as he delivered his finest performance yet for the Philippine side with 26 points on 8-of-16 field goal clip and 12 rebounds in over 31 minutes.
Naturalized Filipino big man Ange Kouame backed up Cousins with 14 points on a near-perfect 5-of-6 shooting, while Dave Ildefonso also finished in double-digit scoring with 12 as he also missed just one of his six attempts from the field.
After a tight battle in the opening quarter, where Beirut only trailed by 2 points, Strong Group turned on the jets in the second period and outscored the Lebanese, 34-21, for a 49-34 halftime spread.
Strong Group – which led by as many as 21 points – maintained its double-digit cushion over Beirut most of the second half as the latter only managed to pull within single digits with under a minute remaining and the game already decided.
For the first time in three matches, Chris McCullough did not lead Strong Group in the scoring department as he was limited to only 6 points on 1-of-7 shooting.
Lebanon national team standout Sergio El Darwich paced Beirut with 26 points, while Mohamed Ali Haidar poured in 18 in the losing effort.
Strong Group looks to complete the sweep of Group A when it wraps up its group stage campaign versus Amman United on Thursday, January 30 at 1 am, Manila time.
Zamboanga drops to 0-2
Meanwhile, the Zamboanga Valientes dropped to 0-2 in Group B after suffering a 107-84 beating at the hands of Al Ahly Tripoli on Monday, January 27.
For the second game in a row, the Valientes squandered a double-digit cushion they put up after leading by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, 36-19.
Import Sam Deguara carried the fight for Zamboanga anew with 25 points, while Adonis Thomas added 24.
UST star Nic Cabañero led the locals in the disappointing loss with 14 markers.
The Scores
Strong Group 85 – Cousins 26, Kouame 14, Ildefonso 12, Williams 8, Richardson 7, McCullough 6, Blatche 6, Abando 4, Brickman 2, Liwag 0, Sanchez 0.
Beirut 78 – El Darwich 26, Hairdar 18, Mezher 10, Ledo 7, Farmer 7, Mahmoud 5, Kadji 5, Khoury 0.
Quarters: 15-13, 49-34, 69-52, 85-78.
– Rappler.com