Strong Group takes exit

MANILA, Philippines — Strong Group fell prey to the hot-shooting Al Riyadi, 106-97, in their quarterfinals matchup and crashed out of contention in the 32nd Dubai International Basketball Championship yesterday at the Al Nasr Club Hall.

The Philippine club stood its ground in the majority of the match, trading blows with the powerhouse squad led by a bevy of Lebanon national team players before succumbing in crunch time with Amir Saoud lighting it up for Al Riyadi.

Saoud, the backcourt partner of ace floor general Wael Arakji, torched Strong Group with 41 points, including 17 in the payoff period where Al Riyadi broke the game wide open from a tied count at 81 in the last six minutes.

The 6-foot-2 gunner led a game-changing 14-2 blitz punctuated by a tough jumper for a sudden 95-83 upperhand in the last three minutes that pretty much took the fight out of the Philippine team. – John Bryan Ulanday

Saoud hit seven treys and added four rebounds with Dominic Johnson (23) and fellow national team players Arakji (13), AJ Majok (13) and Hayk Gyokchyan (12) providing coverage.

“Painful and frustrating loss for us. We couldn’t stop Saoud today no matter what we did. He’s just too experienced for our team right now. Offense wasn’t the problem but we couldn’t get stops,” said coach Charles Tiu as Al Riyadi exacted revenge on a Philippine club.

“Thank you to our Filipino fans for supporting us. We are sorry for the loss. We will come back stronger for sure.”

Tiu, with Mighty Sports Philippines in 2020, won the Dubai tournament at the expense of Al Riyadi in the finals, 92-81, to cap off a perfect championship run.

Strong Group, owned by Frank and Jacob Lao with the backing of Mighty Sports and Acrocity,  fell short to duplicate the feat despite the efforts of imports Shabazz Muhammad with 27 points and Renaldo Balkman with 16 markers and 15 boards.

Justine Baltazar (13), Sedrick Barefield (11) and BJ Andrade (10) led the local crew of Strong Group.