Strong Group rebounds, nips Japan squad to enter Jones Cup win column

MANILA, Philippines -- Back on track. 

Strong Group Athletics (SGA) returned to its winning ways after pulling away late against Japan, 78-72, Saturday at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City. 

SGA, which absorbed a humbling defeat against Wonju DB Promy their last game, dug deep in the fourth quarter to grab the victory. 

"Good bounce-back win. We just had to. There was no way we could play as badly as we did yesterday. We had our moments, but we still had a few bad stretches. We played some really good defense in the fourth quarter," SGA head coach Charles Tiu said. 

"We are slowly finding our groove, and we need these types of games, although I’m hoping we can have a more dominant performance. We also got an earful from Boss Jacob, and that gave us good motivation to compete harder. We need to get back to playing our SGA brand of basketball and find our identity. It’s a long tournament, but we definitely need to step up to beat Taipei."

Isaiah Pineiro paced the Philippine-based squad with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Matthew Wright added 15 markers, four rebounds and three assists while Tajuan Agee had 14 and nine. 

SGA was trailing by just five, 55-60, heading to the final frame. 

The two teams were then kept in a tight matchup going into deep waters. 

 Back-to-back layups by the debuting Ian Miller and Wright, then, pushed SGA ahead, 72-70, with 2:52 remaining. 

After costly misses by both teams, an and-one play by Gakuto Arai put the Japanese team in a strong position to tie things up. 

However, Arai could not connect on the free throw, putting the game at 71-72 with 49.4 seconds to go. 

And after clutch free throws by Miller that gave SGA the 74-71 breathing room with 35.1 seconds left, Gen Hiraiwa split his freebies with 18.1 seconds to go, which proved costly. 

Free throws by Miller and Pineiro slammed the door shut on Japan, which absorbed its second straight defeat in the group stage. 

Arai had 25 points, four rebounds and an assist for Japan. Hiyuu Ozawa chipped in 13 markers. 

SGA will be back in action on Sunday against hosts Republic of China Blue.