Strong Group Athletics completes back-to-back Jones Cup title quest

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Strong Group Athletics made another fruitful international trip after bagging their second consecutive William Jones Cup championship title on July 19, 2025, at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City.

Needing only a single win to raise their record to a perfect 7-0, the Philippines-based basketball organization went all out against Bahrain, 92-68, to officially put themselves in the Mount Rushmore of the Jones Cup kings.

Former Oklahoma City Thunder two-way forward Andre Roberson spearheaded the massive Strong Group rally against Bahrain after dominating with his efficient three-point shooting and on-point offensive tip-ins.

Roberson became a matchup nightmare for Bahrain as his quickness underneath helped him blow by the opposition’s frontcourt defenders and also found the bottom of the net with his high-arching stroke from downtown.

However, Strong Group found themselves in a tight spot when Bahrain was able to trim their deficit to just five points, 68-63, midway through the third quarter.

Thanks to their mini spurt from the rainbow area and Strong Group’s unforced errors, the game turned into a 50-50 affair and had the potential to go down to the wire.

Just when Bahrain thought that they had captured all of the momentum, little did they know that Strong Group had enough gas left in the tank after unleashing a demoralizing 14-0 scoring run in the fourth and final quarter.

Kiefer Ravena, Roberson, and Javi Gomez de Liaño joined hands to kick off the rally, backstopped by the interior scoring of Tajuan Agee and Ian Miller.

Unfortunately for Bahrain, their three-point shooting didn’t connect in the most crucial stretch of the final canto, allowing the PHL representatives to pulverize them in the shaded lane in the last four minutes of the ball game.

Roberson was nothing but spectacular in the championship-clinching game after posting a dominant double-double of 25 points and 14 rebounds.

Agee backstopped Roberson’s outing with an all-around performance of 19 markers, eight boards, two assists, and a steal.

For the locals, Gomez de Liaño led the charge with 12 points derived from 3/5 shooting from the field alongside seven rebounds and two steals.