Jericho Cruz leads Guam to historic Fiba Asia Cup win

Jericho Cruz (182-G-1990) came up with 21 points to help Guam produce a historic first win in the Fiba Asia Cup by defeating Syria, 82-73, on Friday (early Saturday Philippine time) at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The San Miguel Beer mainstay highlighted his scoring surge by knocking down five triples, including three in the last five minutes that sealed the deal for the tiny island’s breakthrough feat in the continental tournament. “It was a hard-fought game for us,” Cruz said. “I’m grateful and blessed, at the same time that we’re here and we got the win.” His back-to-back triples enabled Guam to extend its lead to 82-69 with 2:36 left after Syria pulled within seven. Guam improved to 1-1 in Group B after bouncing back from a 77-52 loss two days earlier to Iran. Tai Wesley (201-F-1986, college: Utah St.) also scored 21 points with eight rebounds and nine assists while Earnest Ross (198-G-1991, college: Missouri, agency: Haylett Sports) Jr. and Takumi Simon added 17 and 15, respectively. More importantly for Guam, it has a strong chance of advancing to the qualification game for a quarterfinals berth as it is currently tied for second with Japan, its final opponent in the group phase. Guam and Japan, which was handed a 78-70 loss by undefeated Iran, square off on Sunday night. Syria dropped to 0-2 and is scheduled to take on Iran, also on Sunday.
Courtesy of: inquirer.net