Strong Group eyes third straight victory

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STRONG Group Athletics shoots for its third consecutive win when it clashes with Beirut First today in the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship at the Al Nasr Club in Doha.

The game is set at 1 a.m. (Manila time), with the Philippine squad favored to roll to victory anew after beating the UAE national team last Friday and Al Nasr two days ago.

While SGA is off to a fast start, the other Philippine entry, Zamboanga Valientes, suffered another loss Monday, 84-107 to the Libyan squad Al Ahly Tripoli.

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The Valientes blew up a 17-point lead, spoiling imports Sam Deguera and Adonis Thomas’ 25 and 24-point performances, respectively. Thomas also had eight rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.

Collegiate star Nic Cabanero added 14 markers for the Valientes while Mike Tolomia and Forthsky Padrigao had a combined 13 points.

The Valientes, like their opening match, dominated the opening quarter and carried the momentum in the second quarter, taking a 36-19 lead at the 7:35 mark after two free throw baskets from Cabanero.

But things went south from there as Al Ahly responded with a 24-3 run and took the lead 51-44.

From there, the Libyan crew went sustained its attack in the third quarter with Mohamed Buzgaiya lifting Al Ahly powering the team to a 77-60 lead.

Wuat Alok starred for Al Ahly with a double-double outing of 24 points and 11 rebounds while skipper Mohamed Sali and Badrush added 25 and 19 markers, respectively.

Zamboanga’s search for a victory will continue on Wednesday at 1 a.m. (Manila time) when they collide against Sagesse Sports Club.

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