RP beats Korea again to salvage fight for 5th Place

RP beats Korea again to salvage fight for 5^th Place

words by rick olivares

pic by jun mendoza

JAKARTA, INDONESIA -- The Smart Gilas Philippine Men’s Basketball Team shook off the sting of last Sunday’s debilitating loss to Qatar in the quarterfinals of the 20^th FIBA Asia Champions Challenge Cup to beat Sangmoo Korea 98-78 at the Britama Sports Arena in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The 76-71 loss to Al Arabi Qatar ended Smart Gilas’ dreams of barging into the semifinals that now features an all West Asian cast of top-seeded Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, and Qatar.

The win over Korea will send the Philippines to a battle for fifth place in the ten-team field and will take on tournament host Indonesia which beat India.

The match between the Philippines and Korea was their second in the tournament. In Gilas’ first match of the competition, the Filipinos turned to point guard Andy Mark Barroca and American reinforcement, center Chester Jarrel Giles to turn back the basketball team of the Korean Army 90-76.

Sangmoo Head Coach Chae Dae Keun’s team who are all military personnel undergoes live fire training once a year but that doesn’t mean on the hardcourt their artillery isn’t accurate. Korea unloaded three triples in the game’s early minutes as they lead 21-17 after 10 minutes of play.

With Gilas’ first five misfiring, the second squad, playing All-Filipino, rode the hot shooting by Jayvee Casio, Rey Guevarra, and Dylan Ababou (while forward-centers Jason Ballesteros and Aldrech Ramos held the fort inside) to score 31 points in the second quarter to seize a lead at the half they would not relinquish. 48-38 Philippines.

With Barroca in foul trouble, Casio once more proved to be a superb quarterback for the team as he passed off for 5 assists to only 1 turnover in 22 minutes of basketball.

At the start of the final period, JR Cawaling made his presence felt by dishing off for three consecutive assists – the first, a nifty bounce pass to the left side that found a cutting Casio for a lay-up off the window, the second a wrap-around pass to Mac Baracael for another deuce, and a third to CJ Giles for a back rim-bending dunk to hike the lead to 78-65.

Cawaling punctuated his heroics with a three from the left corner pocket to keep the three-point mad Koreans at bay. Sangmoo, unable to carve space inside the lane due to the presence of the elongated Giles who swatted away four shots, turned to the court of last resort – the three-point range – for succor. Except that they shot a dismal 13-30.

With 1:23 left in the game, Rey Guevarra put an exclamation on his wondrous game with a dunk of his own after a misplay by his teammates to give the Philippines it’s biggest lead at 96-74.

All 12 Filipinos scored in the match, the first time the Smart Gilas accomplished the feat in the tournament. “We played one of our best games today,” said Philippines Head Coach Rajko Toroman.

Philippines 98 – Giles 16, Casio 14, Ababou 11, Jazul 10, Baracael 10, Guevarra 9, Ramos 8, Barroca 7, Cawaling 5, Ballesteros 3, Tiu 3, Slaughter 2

Korea 78 – Beom 24, Jung W. 14, Kyong 12, Gu 7, Hee 5, Byung 5, Jae 4, Tae 4, Jung K 3, Se 0, Bong 0, Sang 0