Strong Group escapes Libyan squad

MANILA, Philippines -- Strong Group Athletics (SGA) swept the group stage of the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship after squeaking past Libya’s Al Ahly Tripoli, 91-89, early Thursday morning (Manila time).

The Philippine squad, which went down by double digits early, tied the game at 81 after a split from the line by Dwight Howard with roughly four minutes remaining in the contest.

After misses from both sides, Kevin Quiambao made a pair of free throws to give SGA an 83-81 lead with 3:38 left.

A split from the line by Naseim Badrush cut the lead to one, 82-83, but Andray Blatche answered with a jumper to give SGA an 85-82 cushion.

The Philippine side then scored four more points courtesy of Howard to grab an 89-82 lead with 2:07 left.

Al Ahly Tripoli, however, went down swinging as they unleashed six straight points to cut the lead to one once again, 88-89, with 31 seconds remaining after timely jumpers by Mohamed Sadi and Nicholas West.

Jordan Heading, then, made both free throws off an intentional foul to extend the lead to three, 91-88.

On the other end, the Libyan team missed two attempts from beyond the arc, which would have tied the contest.

A late split from the line by Wajdi Dawo set the final score.

Heading led SGA in scoring with 19 points off the bench.

Howard and Quiambao had 17 markers apiece for SGA.

Badrush spearheaded Al Ahly Tripoli with 27 points. Sadi chipped in 22 markers as well.

SGA started the game cold, going down by as much as 12 points in the first quarter, 27-15, after a deuce by Mohamed Ramadan.

The Philippine side, however, scored five straight points to cut the deficit to seven, 20-27, heading into the second quarter.

SGA, then, finally took the lead as they started the second frame on a 10-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by Heading.

The Philippine side ended the group stage with an immaculate 5-0 record.