William Jones Cup: Strong Group clobbers Chinese Taipei-B

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Strong Group Pilipinas is slowly finding its rhythm after dominating Chinese Taipei Blue, 97-78, in its quest for a William Jones Cup title defense at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City on Aug. 16, 2026.

After taking a punch in the mouth during its 79-110 opening loss to Korea, the Philippine-based basketball squad immediately responded, edging Japan to grab its first win before regaining its form against the hosts to go up 2-1 in the standings.

However, Chinese Taipei-B gave Strong Group an early scare after its 10-point lead suddenly evaporated behind stellar 3-point shooting in the first quarter.

Strong Group looked to blow the game wide open after establishing a 20-10 advantage, but Chinese Taipei-B received a much-needed offensive punch from its bench to turn a 10-point deficit into a one-point lead, 30-29.

Having already been in similar situations as veterans, Strong Group didn’t panic and slowed the game down as it utilized its half-court sets in the second quarter to restore order.

Strong Group cut down on its bad habits from the first canto, leaning on its size advantage, which put Chinese Taipei-B in early foul trouble.

With the towering presence of former NBA player Boban Marjanovic and Tajuan Agee, Strong Group scored 16 points in the paint in the second frame alone, backed by a rejuvenated shooting performance from Fil-Am guard Remy Martin.

Picking up where Martin left off was DJ Fenner, who sparked a 6-0 Strong Group closing run for a 52-40 lead at halftime.

It was then all Strong Group in the second half as the more experienced roster pummeled Chinese Taipei-B in almost all facets of the game, including in transition, led by Titing Manalili and Martin.

After Martin’s 3-pointer and Marjanovic’s back-to-back dunks, Strong Group stretched its lead to 17 points entering the fourth quarter. Despite the hosts’ defensive adjustment to a 1-3-1 zone, the defending champions had no trouble breaking down the defense and feeding their wide-open shooters in the corners.

Chinese Taipei-B officially waved the white flag with five minutes remaining in regulation when it failed to trim its deficit to single digits.

The one-two import punch of Isaiah Pineiro and Agee led the charge for Strong Group with 19 points each, while Fenner added 15 points, four rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.

After a rough game against Korea, Marjanovic finally bounced back, delivering a stellar double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Strong Group will have a day of rest before resuming its William Jones Cup campaign today in a must-win game against Japan.