UAE for winning start in Dubai International hoops

 

The Philippine representative in the nine-team tournament seized control behind a blistering second quarter rally but still had to fend off a last-ditch run from the locals to prevail in the game much to the delight of a good-sized Filipino crowd in the venue.

But not Strong Group coach Charles Tiu and the very young team owner Jacob Lao.

Tiu actually blamed himself for the team’s modest finish.

“It was an ugly win for us,” Tiu said. “I take responsibility and apologized to my team for taking my imports out a little early.”

“I thought we had the game in the bag up 14 in the last 2 minutes, and I was thinking ahead wanting to rest our imports for the game tomorrow,” Tiu added.

Refusing to go down without a fight, UAE unleashed a fiery 11-0 run inside the final three minutes of the game that cut the once 16-point deficit (90-74) down to just three, 90-87 with 20 seconds left.

Good thing Filipino-American Sedrick Barefiel was there and he split his charities in the dying seconds to finally seal the deal for the team backed by Mighty Sports and Acrocity.

“Our All-Filipino line up didn’t do too well down the stretch. We need to do a better job of taking the ball, rebounding and getting back on defense,” Tiu said. “Those are the key areas we struggle with.”

To avoid the late struggles they encountered against UAE, Tiu and Lao said they have to build more chemistry and learn to move the ball better and faster in their game against Al Nasr from Libya on Sunday, 1 a.m. (Manila time).