Strong Group denied sweep by Dynamo in Dubai tiff

MANILA, Philippines — Strong Group Philippines absorbed their first loss of the 32nd Dubai International Basketball Championship after suffering a tough loss at the hands of Lebanese squad Dynamo, 89-83, at the Al Nasr Club on Wednesday (early Thursday morning, Manila time).

After seizing the lead in the second salvo, the Strong Group were outhustled in the endgame as the Dynamo rode big triples by former NBA player Cleanthony Early.

Early finished with a game-high 29 points built off of six triples, including two treys that provided the finishing kick against the Philippine squad.

He gave the Dyanmo their first lead since the start of the second quarter with a triple with 2:17 ticks left in the clock, 82-81.

The triple was part of an 11-2 run to end the ball game for Dynamo as the Strong Group failed to convert when they needed to the most.

Go-to scorers Shabazz Muhammad and Sedrick Barefield were held in check in the late goings of the match as they missed on crucial shots that could've helped the Strong Group inch closer.

Strong Group thus relinquished the top spot in their group to the Dynamo who are undefeated in four games. Strong Group are 3-1 heading into the knockout quarterfinals.

Muhammad finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block in the losing effort for the Strong Group.

Jerom Lastimosa added 14 markers on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting clip off of the bench as Renaldo Balkman and Barefield struggled as starters, scoring 10 and nine points, respectively.

Nick Young, who was rested in the Strong Group's previous game, finished with 11 markers and two rebounds.

The quarterfinals of the tiff kick off on Thursday and Friday.