Despite being hobbled by injuries and illness, Strong Group Athletics continued its dominant run in the 44th William Jones Cup with an emphatic 81-54 rout of Qatar on Tuesday evening at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City.
DJ Fenner and Javi Gomez de Liano took turns fueling SGA’s offense, combining for 36 points to secure their third consecutive victory.
The team remains unbeaten at 3-0 — keeping pace with Bahrain (4-0) as the only undefeated teams in the nine-nation tournament.
“We’re banged up right now,” admitted head coach Charles Tiu. “Tajuan [Agee] is hurting, Roberson’s knee is swollen, Ian [Miller]’s plantar is bothering him, and Rhenz [Abando]’s hamstring might keep him out for the Australia game. Even Dave [Ildefonso] and Geo [Chiu] are fighting off illness. Jason [Brickman] is very fatigued as well.”
“Only issue right now is our health,” Tiu added. “But we will keep fighting ‘til the end.”
That fighting spirit was evident throughout the contest as SGA clamped down defensively and put on another wire-to-wire performance, holding Qatar to just 54 points.
“Defense has been great for us. That’s what we’ve been preaching from day one. Defense wins championships,” said Tiu. “We held another team to below 60.”
Fresh off dominant wins against last year’s runner-up Chinese Taipei and Japan’s developmental team, SGA wasted no time asserting control. Fenner dropped 16 points in the first half to establish an early cushion, and Gomez de Liano picked up the scoring slack in the second half, pouring in 13 of his 18 points after the break.
A corner triple from Miller capped a 15-5 third-quarter surge that pushed SGA’s lead to 49-30. But Qatar showed some fight, with 17-year-old Abdulla Mousa drilling three triples late in the third to cut the deficit to 52-39 heading into the final frame.
However, SGA answered with a quick 6-0 spurt to open the fourth quarter, sparked by back-to-back inside buckets from Roberson and a layup from Fenner, reestablishing a 58-39 lead.
That burst proved to be the dagger, as Gomez de Liano hit two long bombs and Ildefonso contributed a four-point flurry to extend the lead to 73-50 with just over two minutes remaining — effectively icing the game.
Fenner finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and one assist. Meanwhile, Gomez de Liano matched him with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting clip, along with four rebounds.
Miller was steady with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and a steal, narrowly missing a double-double. Ildefonso also contributed across the board with eight points, five assists, and three rebounds.
Despite battling a swollen knee, Roberson still made his presence felt. Though limited to seven points on 3-of-7 shooting, the veteran forward hauled down 10 rebounds and chipped in three assists, two blocks, and two steals.
SGA dominated the stat sheet, outrebounding Qatar 59-47, dishing out more assists (19-11), and collecting more steals (10-4), en route to their 11th straight Jones Cup win dating back to their unbeaten run in the 2024 edition.
With the win, SGA builds crucial momentum ahead of their much-anticipated clash against Australia on Wednesday at 5:00 PM.
Star playmaker Kiefer Ravena is set to rejoin the team after arriving in Taiwan that morning.
On the other hand, Qatar dropped to 1-3 in the tournament after opening with a win against the United Arab Emirates. Mousa, the youngest player on their roster, led the way with 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals, while Mubarak Jama added 10 points and eight boards.
Qatar looks to bounce back against Chinese Taipei (Republic of China White) in their next assignment at 7:00 PM.
