Undermanned Strong Group-Pilipinas flexed its might against Japan’s under-22 team, 92-79, to move two wins away from the championship title in the 43rd William Jones Cup on Friday, July 19, at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan. 

The Philippine team was simply too much and too strong for the youthful Japanese side as it hiked its unbeaten record to 6-0 in the standings while leaving the latter at an even 3-3 slate after the encounter. 

Prior to the match, Strong Group head coach Charles Tiu posted on X about the squad’s status in the tournament and also rued missing the services of three key players in import Tajuan Agee, Rhenz Abando and naturalized player Ange Kouame. 

“Big game for us against a young Japan team. We need to win this to assure us of the chance to play for the championship against Chinese Taipei on Sunday. A bit undermanned without [Tajuan] Agee (who's in the ER for his sickness), [Rhenz] Abando [had a] swollen hand and Ange [Kouame] with a swollen knee,” he said. 

With the perfect record so far and with most of the foes now pretty much eliminated from title contention, the Philippines remained in close competition with Chinese Taipei A, which is set to play later in the day as it also shoots for a similar 6-0 record. 

Two other imports in former NBA player Chris McCullough and Filipino-American DJ Fenner took turns to lead the way for Strong Group in the absence of three key pieces in Tiu’s rotation. 

McCullough, just as he has done in as many games, delivered another team-best performance of 26 points on an efficient 12-of-15 shooting from inside that went with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. 

Fenner, for his part, finished with 17 markers and three rebounds. 

Jordan Heading and skipper Kiefer Ravena had 11 and nine points, respectively, to effectively fill the void in the lineup to help sustain the team's strong campaign. 

Meanwhile, Hiyuu Ozawa connected on five of nine three-point attempts to pace the Japanese squad with 17 points. 

Ryosuke Saeki, Ryosei Sato and John Harper Jr. all had 10 points apiece in the losing effort. 

The Philippines will take on Chinese Taipei A and Chinese Taipei B over the weekend for its bid to reclaim the Jones Cup title it last won in 2019 also under Tiu's mentorship with then Mighty Sports.