SGA loss hard pill to swallow – Tiu
STRONG Group Athletics (SGA) coach Charles Tiu said seeing the team lose to Al Riyadi by a buzzer-beating basket in the final game of the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship was a hard pill to swallow.
The Philippine club team made a courageous second half rally in the second half and was one basket away from completing an eightgame sweep of the tournament.
But ageless Al Riyadi big man Ismail Abdelmoneim broke the hearts of the Filipinos after burying the buzzer-beating three-point shot, allowing the powerhouse Lebanese club team to seal its second straight tournament championship early Monday morning.
“Tough to lose this way,” Tiu told The Manila Times, whose team finished the tournament with a 7-1 record overall. “We competed with the best team and the perennial champions and was one possession away.”
The Filipino mentor said while the team had a power-packed reinforcement led by former NBA stars Dwight Howard, Andray Blatche and Andre Roberson, as well as McKenzie Moore and backstopped by UAAP standout Kevin Quiambao and MPBL Most Valuable Player Justin Baltazar, the eight-games in 10 days grind eventually took its toll on them.
“Ultimately the eight games in 10 days really wore us down, especially those who hadn’t played in a while,” shared Tiu.
Nonetheless, the Strong Group coach, who led a Philippine team then bannered by Mighty Sports to the 2020 championship, said he remains thankful for the all-out support of management led by owners Frank and Jacob Lao.
“I’m really happy and thankful to the management that we were able to put up a team like this,” shared Tiu. “This will be great for them going back to their respective teams. Let’s not forget basically we had a team of college guys and imports.”