MANILA – Strong Group Athletics-Pilipinas completed a perfect campaign in the 2025 William Jones Cup via an 87-62 domination of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Tajuan Agee led the back-to-back champions SGA-Pilipinas with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal, as they finished the tournament with a flawless 8-0 record.
Kiefer Ravena tallied 13 points and nine assists, while Derrick Fenner Jr. and Ian Miller each contributed 12 points. Sean Dave Ildefonso also chipped in 10 points.
This marks the Philippines’ eighth championship in the Jones Cup following previous wins by Northern Cement (1982), San Miguel (1985), the Centennial Team (1998), Gilas Pilipinas (2012), Mighty Sports (2016 and 2019), and SGA-Pilipinas (2024 and 2025).
“What’s really rare here is the opportunity,” said SGA-Pilipinas head coach Charles Tiu. “Just want to give credit to our bosses — Boss Frank and Jacob Lao — for allowing us to run it back again and for the trust to form and build this team.”
“We had a great group of guys — guys committed to winning and sacrificing for the team. It’s rare to have this kind of chemistry and character guys on the team,” he added.
The victory extended their unbeaten run to 16 games across the 2024 and 2025 editions, with this year’s wins coming by an average margin of 19.38 points.
Holding a slim 37-36 lead at halftime, SGA-Pilipinas broke away in the third quarter behind the offense of Agee and Miller to build a 62-52 advantage.
The Filipino squad continued their onslaught in the fourth period as Ravena, Fenner, and Ildefonso added more points to stretch the lead to 25.
Khalifa Khalil Ibrahim Salem led the UAE with 18 points, while Qais Omar Alshabebi scored 15, and Ahmed Abdulateef Albreiki added 11. The UAE ended the tournament winless at 0-8./PN
