Smart Gilas Pilipinas showed it can also get it done sans its two key players as it banked on a second half surge to put away Malaysia, 86-68, Tuesday in the grueling 33rd William Jones Cup.
Opting to sit out both Marcus Douthit and JV Casio in preparation for Wednesday’s game against Korea, it took quite some time for the Nationals to finally shake off the still winless Malaysians, who reeled to their fourth double-digit defeat.
The Philippines, which fell in the hands of Jordan yesterday, 72-76, looked dreary and was erratic in the first half—allowing Malaysia to stay within reach and even led briefly 38-37 to start the third period.
That prompted the Nationals, though, to get their acts together.
Smart Gilas retaliated with a 27-5 rampage spearheaded by skipper Chris Tiu and former FEU standout Mac Baracael, who combined for 17 points during that pivotal run.
Tiu and Baracael finished with 14 points each while Marcio Lassiter and Japeth Aguilar chipped in 13 markers to help seal Smart Gilas its third win in four games.
Lassiter, who had a forgettable outing against Jordan, knocked down a triple to give the Philippines its biggest lead, 73-49, in the 7:49 mark of the final quarter.
Smart Gilas raced to an early 7-0 buffer and even led 27-15 on a basket by Mark Barroca in the opening period before Malaysia surprisingly put up a run of its own with sneaky transition lay-ups at the other end.
Without Douthit, who has been flirting with a double-double average of 19 points and nine rebounds, Smart Gilas struggled scoring down low and instead relied more on its wing shooters with the Malaysians going zone the majority of the match.
Li Wei Chee led Malaysia with 15 points, the bulk of which coming in the painted area.
The Nationals continued their stellar shooting from the stripe by going 16-of-18.
Malaysia lost to host Chinese Taipei in its previous game by a whopping 50-point margin, 54-104.