Gilas downs India, battles Iran today
Using a huge lead to cushion a sputtering finish, Gilas Pilipinas turned back a tall and gritty India crew, 70-66, last night to reach the Final Four of the Fiba-Asia Cup against defending champion Iran at Wuhan Gym in Wuhan, China.
The Filipinos, who placed fourth the last time the event was played in Tokyo in 2012, pulled through despite going scoreless in the last 5:09 after consecutive Paul Lee triples gave them a 70-54 lead.
Gilas advanced against the Iranians, who ripped Jordan, 75-60 earlier, with the winner sealing a championship date with either Chinese Taipei or host China.
Both Final Four matches will be played today.
The Taiwanese sent Japan, the second-placer the last time in Tokyo, home after a 76-62 victory while the Chinese were expected to cruise past Singapore in a game that was still being played at press time.
Naturalized Taiwanese Quincy Davis III grabbed a tournament-best 20 rebounds and had 14 points, and shooting guard Liu Cheng fired 22 to lead Taiwan, which will be eyeing a repeat victory over a Chinese team since the World Qualifying last year in Manila.
Gilas started cold but made a serious run to finish the first period ahead at 20-17.
The Filipinos looked headed to an easy win after those two Lee triples in the fourth quarter before a spate of errors allowed the Indians to run up nine straight points and make it 65-70 heading into the final 1:38.
But India was unable to connect when it needed to, with the last point coming at the free throw line from center Amritpal Singh off a Marcus Douthit foul with no time left.
Lee, the first-time internationalist who came into the game averaging 14.7 points a contest, finished with 15 points and topscored for the Philippines for the fourth straight game.
He also had five rebounds and three assists, with Douthit shooting 14 points and grabbing 12 boards.
Hamed Hadadi, Iran’s 7-foot-2 NBA veteran and MVP in the Manila Fiba Asia, fired 14 points and had 10 rebounds, with gunslinger Mohammad Jamshidi pacing the Iranians with 26 points on 14-of-18 shooting coming off the bench.
The scores:
GILAS PILIPINAS 70—Lee 15, Douthit 14, De Ocampo 13, Washington 7, David 6, Alas 5, Dillinger 4, Fajardo 2, Aguilar 2, Tenorio 2.
INDIA 66—A. Singh 20, P. Singh 10, Bhriguvanshi 10, J. Singh 9, Am Singh 8, Mishra 6, Y. Singh 2, Pethani 1, Grewal 0, Pari 0, Sivakumar 0, Prar 0.
Quarters: 20-17, 45-33, 60-47, 70-66
