Strong Group Athletics (SGA) had to overcome some missed opportunities and a powerhouse field to pull off a historic triumph in the 44th William Jones Cup recently.

SGA president Jacob Lao fondly looked back at their journey, saying that their victory was fueled by their resilience and determination to survive the misfortunes along the way.

Lao, for one, cited their failure to recruit their initial choices like JD Cagulangan, SJ Belangel and Thirdy Ravena as one of the reasons why they worked hard until emerging as the first ever Filipino club to win back-to-back titles in this prestigious invitational event.

“Yeah, I feel like our pool was deep. I mean, we’ve seen a lot of players from abroad like JD and SJ, so they were part of the pool that we had. Thirdy was also part but most of them had previous commitments,” said Lao during the latest episode of “Off the Court,” the weekly online sports show of DAILY TRIBUNE, last Thursday.

“And then the rest, they had to fly out early to Korea. So, we just looked at who were the best talents available.”

Aside from Cagulangan, Belangel and Ravena, Lao also made a failed attempt to recruit Kevin Quiambao.

“KQ (Quiambao) was also an option but he was in the States,” said the youthful executive, referring to the sweet-shooting former De La Salle University star who flew to Las Vegas to try his luck in the National Basketball Association Summer League.

“We could have gotten a lot of guys that we wanted but the schedule didn’t permit for everyone.”

Despite failing to recruit its preferred players, SGA still played its heart out until winning the crown against a powerhouse field that includes the Chinese Taipei national squad and club teams from Japan and Australia.

The crew of former Oklahoma City Thunder veteran Andre Roberson, Ian Miller, Tajuan Agee, Kiefer Ravena, Dave Ildefonso, Jason Brickman, Rhenz Abando, Javi Gomez de Liaño, Angelo Kouame, DJ Fenner, Geo Chiu, and reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association Most Valuable Player Allen Liwag delivered the goods and won all eight games in this prestigious annual basketball tournament.