Strong Group caps Jones Cup sweep with rout of UAE

MANILA, Philippines -- Strong Group-Philippines steamrolled United Arab Emirates, 87-62, and capped another tournament sweep in the 2025 William Jones Cup Sunday at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in Taiwan.

The Philippine representative (8-0) already bagged the title as early as Saturday with a 92-68 win over Bahrain but still went full throttle in a non-bearing match to wipe out the nine-team annual invitational tourney. 

Mentored by Charles Tiu, Strong Group also swept the Jones Cup last year to become the first-ever Philippine team to win back-to-back titles in the tournament’s 44-year history.

It’s the eighth overall Jones Cup crown for the country following the previous feats by Northern Cement (1982), San Miguel (1985), the Centennial Team (1998), Gilas Pilipinas (2012) and Mighty Sports (2016 and 2019).

“We are happy to win a championship again. We never take anything for granted,” said Tiu. 

“Our bosses go all out every time to win and to support our teams whenever we represent the country.”

Tajuan Agee tallied 20 points, five rebounds and four assists in Strong Group’s 50-26 second-half runaway from a close 37-36 lead at the turn to shrug off the winless UAE. 

Kiefer Ravena engineered that breakaway with 13 points and nine assists as DJ Fenner and Ian Bennett Miller added 12 points each. 

Dave Ildefonso chipped in 10 to make it up for former NBA standout Andre Roberson, who did not suit up with the title already in Strong Group’s pocket. 

Strong Group has now won 16 straight games in the Jones Cup with an average winning gap of 19.38 points. 

In this tournament alone, Strong Group’s lone single-digit win came against Malaysia, 106-98, after Chinese-Taipei Blue, 67-56, Japan Developmental, 79-67, Qatar, 81-54, Australia’s NBL1 Rising Stars, 91-75, Chinese-Taipei White, 107-75, Bahrain, 92-68, and UAE, 87-62.

Meanwhile, Khalifa Khalil Ibrahim Salem and Qais Osmar Alshabebi had 18 and 15 points, respectively, for UAE.