INQUIRER Sports

TIANJIN, CHINA? Even after Powerade-Pilipinas? unexpected eighth-place windup at the Fiba Asia qualifier here, Coca-Cola executive JB Baylon said his company would gladly back another national five again.

?Definitely,? Baylon told the Inquirer when asked if Powerade would be willing to bankroll the RP team?s participation in such a tournament again. ?The exposure we got (with the team) was worth every cent we invested.

?It would have been better had we achieved our goal (of making the World Championship), but still, it was worth taking a shot at.?

Powerade injected P15 million into the RP team?s cash cache.

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Hosting the Fiba Asia has its perks, and it wasn?t more evident for the Chinese than in their 72-68 victory against Lebanon Saturday night.

The Chinese booked a berth in the World Championship in Istanbul next year with the win, which was partly aided by some spotty officiating.

Lebanon stalwart Matt Freije fouled out with a good four minutes left and Lebanon was whistled for one silly call with 42.6 seconds remaining which gave China a 70-68 lead.