Strong Group Athletics rode a dominant first-half performance from Tajuan Agee to dismantle Chinese Taipei-White, 107-75, on Thursday evening in the 44th William Jones Cup at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City.
Agee quickly bounced back from a quiet 12-point, 4-of-14 outing against Australia the previous day. The 27-year-old forward erupted for 25 points on an ultra-efficient 10-of-12 shooting clip, along with six rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block — all in just 15 minutes and 32 seconds of first-half action.
“Played great today. Guys were locked in from the start,” said head coach Charles Tiu. “Tajuan Agee was great and dominated them from the start. Best offensive basketball for us.”
Agee’s breakout game was a welcome sight as fellow bigs Andre Roberson and Ange Kouame received a well-deserved breather in the wire-to-wire win.
The extra rest also allowed young big men Geo Chiu and Allen Liwag to log extended minutes ahead of a potential gold medal showdown against the undefeated Bahrain squad (6-0).
Strong Group set the tone early with a 39-24 advantage before blowing the game wide open with a 22-9 run — capped by an 11-point burst from Agee — to take a commanding 61-33 lead at halftime.
That blistering start proved decisive. Ian Miller sparked an eight-point spurt in the third quarter to keep the cushion at 28, 82-54, entering the final frame.
Fenner made the most of his limited minutes in the fourth, sinking timely buckets to maintain an 87-61 lead with under five minutes to go, sealing Strong Group’s fifth win in as many outings.
“We are getting better every game,” Tiu added. “Twenty-seven assists and finally double-digit three-pointers made. It was a satisfying performance.”
After struggling from long range in their previous games — shooting just 22.6% from three — SGA found its rhythm, knocking down 14 of 31 attempts for a much-improved 45.2% clip.
The team also dominated the hustle stats, winning the rebounding battle 52-39 and dishing out 27 assists to Chinese Taipei-White’s 15.
Miller finished with 13 points and three rebounds, while Javi Gomez de Liaño continued his strong campaign with a double-double of 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 11 boards.
Kiefer Ravena impressed in just his second appearance, tallying 11 points and six assists.
Rhenz Abando and Dave Ildefonso also chipped in 10 points apiece, while Geo Chiu got eight points on a 4-of-4 clip with five rebounds.
Strong Group looks to remain unbeaten as it faces Malaysia tomorrow at 3:00 PM.
Meanwhile, the loss dropped Chinese Taipei-White — a developmental squad for the national team — into a three-way tie for fifth with Australia and Japan, all holding identical 2-3 records.
Guo Jun Yan led the Taiwanese side with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting and added seven rebounds in the losing effort.
