AND the redemption tour begins.

Strong Group Athletics (SGA) takes on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) national team as its first test in Group A of the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship on Friday at the Al Nasr Club.

Game time is at 11 p.m. (Manila time) as per the revised schedule of the Middle East tourney as SGA鈥檚 debut got moved to the second game from the opener of a triple-header bill.

Host team Al Nasr opens the curtain against Lebanon鈥檚 Beirut First at 9 p.m. as another Lebanese squad Sagesse SC battles UAE鈥檚 Sharjah SC at 1 a.m.

Another Philippine team in Zamboanga Valientes, in Group B, will debut on Saturday against Sharjah at 11 p.m.

But the spotlight is on SGA for now with hopes of kicking off its revenge bid on a high note after a buzzer-beating defeat against Lebanon鈥檚 Al Riyadi in the Dubai finals last year to bleed for a runner-up finish.

Al Riyadi, however, is out of the 10-team field this time around to crown a new Dubai king.

Bannering SGA鈥檚 mission is former NBA All-Star Demarcus Cousins alongside ex-PBA champion import Chris McCullough, who steered the Philippine club to the Jones Cup title last year to make up for its Dubai shortcoming.

Also in the fray for head coach Charles Tiu鈥檚 squad is another American import Malachi Richardson as well as Gilas Pilipinas naturalized players Andray Blatche and Ange Kouame.

Mikey Williams, Jason Brickman, Chris Koon, Rhenz Abando and Dave Ildefonso will spearhead the local roster with Mr. Tiu鈥檚 College of St. Benilde players in NCAA MVP Allen Liwag, Tony Ynot and Justine Sanchez.

Meanwhile, Zamboanga will be led by former UAAP MVP Malick Diouf,听 7-foot-6 sensation Sam Deguara, former PBA pros Prince Caperal, Mike Tolomia, Rudy Lingganay and Kyt Jimenez as well as collegiate stars Forthsky Padrigao and Nic Caba帽ero of the University of Santo Tomas. 鈥 John Bryan Ulanday

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