SGA barges into semis unbeaten

MANILA, Philippines — Undefeated Strong Group Athletics bullied its way to the semifinals with a 100-63 annihilation of Sharjah SC in the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship yesterday at the Al Nasr Club.

Former NBA standouts Demarcus Cousins and Chris McCullough joined hands as the Philippine representative moved two wins away from a sweet redemption after a runner-up finish last year.

SGA takes on Tunisia, which beat Amman United of Jordan, 93-83, today for a seat in the finale.

Cousins, a four-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA Second Team, had 21 points and 10 rebounds laced by four assists, two steals and a block in only 21 minutes of play.

The 6-foot-10 ace played only five minutes in SGA’s 84-75 win over Amman United the other day to complete a Group A sweep for his knockout preparations.

And it paid off as Cousins anchored SGA’s 31-16 breakaway in the opening quarter that set the tone in the team’s 37-point win.

McCullough, SGA’s scoring leader, added 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals while Mikey Williams and Dave Ildefonso chipped in 11 points each.

Jason Brickman and Rhenz Abando contributed eight and seven points, respectively, as no player saw more than 24 minutes of play in SGA’s biggest win this tourney after beating Amman, UAE national team, 99-91, host Al Nasr, 99-87 and Lebanon’s Beirut First, 85-78, in the group stage.

“It’s a good win for us. It’s a great team effort. We played our best defensive game, and the guys stuck to the game plan. We knew they’d rely on a lot of zone defense, so we prepared and scouted them well,” said head coach Charles Tiu.