Showing up as the title favorite that it is, the Philippines’ Strong Group squad on Sunday destroyed Libya’s Al Nasr, 93-76, to win for the second straight time in the 32nd Dubai International Basketball Championship before a very appreciative gallery of overseas Filipino workers at Al-Nasr Club Hall.
After winning ugly over United Arab Emirates, the PH representative to the nine-team tournament started out strong and finished with a flurry this time, finally displaying the form that made it a favorite to win a second straight title.
“We played much better this time and my locals also did well,” said coach Charles Tiu.
Three early triples from BJ Andrade sparked the unrelenting Philippine start before imports Renaldo Balkman and Shabazz Muhammad made sure that the Filipinos would sustain their fine form.
Third quarter breakaway
After being down by as large as 19 early, the best that Al Nasr could do was whittle that gap to nine points several times in the third frame, only for another Strong Group run had the Filipinos scooting to an 81-58 lead heading into the final frame.
Muhammad dropped 13 of his 26 points in the first quarter, while Balkman finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Sedrick Barefield added 14, Justine Baltazar wound up with 10 while Andrade and Kevin Quiambao chipped in nine apiece.
Strong Group, which currently leads the Group A standings, takes a one-day off before plunging back to action on Tuesday, Jan. 31 (Manila time) against Syrian team Al Wahda.