Philippine Sports News and Updates

JAKARTA – Smart Gilas Pilipinas used a strong finishing kick to repeat over Sangmoo of Korea, 98-78, yesterday and stay on track for a possible fifth place finish in the 20th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup at the Britama Arena here.

CJ Giles bucked injury and dished out a double-double job of 16 points and 16 rebounds, spiking his game-long brilliance with four shot blocks, two assists and a steal as the Nationals notched their fourth victory against two losses.

But it was an overall team effort with the 12 players put in by RP’s Serbian coach Rajko Toroman scoring and contributing in nearly all departments. JV Casio, Dylan Ababou, Mac Baracael and RJ Jazul led the locals’ charge with 14, 12, 10 and 10 points, respectively.

“I think it was one of our best games here, the players were enthusiastic even though we’re coming off a loss to Qatar,” said Toroman.

The Nationals thus forged an interesting duel with Satria Muda of host Indonesia, which steamrolled Young Cagers of India, at 5 p.m. today (RP time) in a battle for fifth place.

“That’s our main concern right now, to win our last game,” said Toroman, who steered the Iran national team to the 2007 FIBA-Asia Championship crown in Tokushima, Japan and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The win somehow made up for the team’s heartbreaking 71-76 defeat to Al Arabi of Qatar Sunday that dashed Team RP’s hopes for a semis stint.

“If we play Qatar in 10 games maybe we would win nine and lose one. Sadly, that one came in the quarterfinals where we played our worst,” said Toroman.

The Filipinos led by 10 points over the Qatari midway in the third quarter, but faltered in the absence of the foul-troubled Giles and blew the chance with crucial miscues at endgame.

Toroman, however, said the loss was part of the learning process. “It’s part of the schooling of this young team, we’ve only formed this team in six months,” said Toroman. The sweet-shooting Koreans, however, didn’t go out without a fight.

Korea, which lost, 76-98, to Smart Gilas in the opening game, raced to a 13-4 start and hung on to it until the early part of the second quarter.

The 6-11 Giles took his third foul in the second period, forcing Toroman to sit out the American. But Rey Guevarra stepped up and sparked a 13-0 blitz with a seven-point barrage as Smart Gilas wrested control.

Another RP rally closing the third period virtually finished off the Koreans, who torched the Filipinos with 13 triples again as in their first game but absorbed the same result.

Park Beom Chai and Han Jung Won each hit four from behind the arc and finished with 24 and 14 points, respectively.

• Philstar
• Philippine Sports Central