Taiwan thwarts Gilas

Gabe Norwood finds a way out from the tight guarding of Wen-Ting Tseng and Chi-Chieh Lin (behind). Photo by NUKI SABIO/PBA IMAGE

CHINESE Taipei warmed up the icy temperature at Mall of Asia Arena with its hot shooting last night.

Power forward Lu Cheng-ju fired five three-pointers in the crucial moments to lead Taipei’s come-from-behind win over Gilas Pilipinas, 84-79, in the 27th Fiba Asia Championship.
Open on the left flank, Lu’s three gave the Taiwanese an 81-77 cushion that completed their rise from 13 points down.

With the victory, Taipei moved on to the second round of the group stages unbeaten in three games while the Filipinos, who simply crumbled in the clutch, placed second in Group A with a 2-1 record.
“Allow me to apologize to my countrymen. I would have wanted to win this game for them,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes.

Long-range ace Lin Chih-chieh also frustrated Gilas with his composure on the floor, pacing the Taiwanese with 22 points capped by a free throw that sealed the win.

Overall, Taipei knocked down 15 threes out of 30 tries and was 58 percent (15 of 26) from the two-point zone.

Gilas also shot the lights out with Larry Fonacier finally waxing hot with five triples and Marcus Douthit making his shots in the paint.

But the Filipinos suddenly went cold late in the fourth after building a 68-53 lead. Jimmy Alapag and Douthit missed consecutive threes after Lu’s last triple, 81-78, 1:27 left.

Jason Castro spun in the lane to cut it down to two but Lin calmly sank his gift shots on the other end as the Gilas went on a fouling spree to stop the clock.

It was the first time in a long while that the Philippines lost to Chinese Taipei in the biggest stage in Asian basketball where three tickets to the 2014 Fiba World Cup are at stake.

The Gilas team of Serbian coach Rajko Toroman never lost against the Taiwanese in all four games back in 2010 and 2011 Jones Cup and the Asian championship in Wuhan, China, two years ago.

The Taiwanese fired nine triples in the first half alone with shooting guard Chih-chieh draining two and forward Tien Lei four, including a long one that opened a 26-15 lead.

Clamping down on Taipei’s gunners, Gilas responded with successive treys and a three-point play by Jimmy Alapag that tied the count at 30.

Lin’s step-back jumper from midrange sparked another Taipei run capped by back-to-back triples by 6-foot-10 center Tseng Wen-ting and bigman Lu Cheng-ju.

Trailing by eight, Gilas made one last run before going to the dugout.

Alapag’s three-point play on a drive sparked the charge before Gabe Norwood’s three from the corner and a feed by Alapag to Douthit gave the Filipinos a 41-38 edge.