Chris McCullough anchored Strong Group Athletics to a convincing 99-87 win over Al Nasr to remain perfect in the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship early Sunday, Jan. 26 (Manila time). 

Coming off the bench, the 29-year-old McCullough, who dazzled with 31 points, nine rebounds and three assists, led another SGA surge in the third quarter where they dropped a 17-4 bomb to build a sizable 67-40 lead which was too much for the hometown bets to overcome.

Dave Ildefonso, Mikey Williams, and Jason Brickman added 16, 13, and nine points, respectively, while last game’s hero Demarcus Cousins and Malachi Richardson had a quiet eight points each for SGA.

Harat Mohammed chalked 34 and Marvelle Harris listed 30 to lead Al Nasr’s scoring department.

Strong Group hiked its card to 2-0 to take the top spot in Group A while Al Nasr fell to 0-2 hole.

Meanwhile, the Zamboanga Valientes bowed to Sharjah SC, 82-97.

Samuel Deguara, Adonis Thomas, and Prince Caperal sparked the Valientes’ offense to seize an early 30-15 breakaway, but lost their steam late in the game as Sharjah found its shooting touch and torched the Philippine representatives.

Deguara topped Zamboanga’s scoring with 16 while Michael Tolomia (14), Thomas (13), Forthsky Padrigao (13), and Caperal (11) all had contributions.