Gilas Pilipinas. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines—Using the three-point shot to great effect against a tall and beefy foe, Gilas Pilipinas Tuesday night pulled off a 71-70 squeaker over Jordan to top Group B and earn the lightest possible assignment in the first round of the KO phase of the Fiba Asia Cup in Wuhan, China.
Ranidel de Ocampo drained the triple that broke the game’s last tie at 68 heading into the final 38.2 seconds before the Filipinos watched starting guard Wassem Al-Sous miss a wide-open triple at the buzzer.
It was the third straight victory for the Filipinos, who worked hard the whole 40 minutes for this one as Jordan led by as many as five points late in the third and was 60-57 up heading into the final 5:20.
Up next: India
But Paul Lee, after committing two silly fouls early in the fourth, marked his return to the floor with a triple that sewed it all up. Beau Belga scored on a reverse while two free throws by Jared Dillinger and an LA Tenorio basket sandwiched Ahmad Aldwairi’s layup for 66-62.
Rasheim Wright, Jordan’s naturalized point guard who is making a return to the national team, then hit seven of the Jordanian’s final eight points that had them breathing down the necks of the Filipinos, 70-71, going into the final 30 seconds.
The win thus sealed a knockout clash with Group A No. 4 India at Wuhan Gym as Jordan dropped to third spot. Chinese Taipei will be the No. 2 seed of Group B regardless of the outcome of its game against Singapore, which was being played at presstime.
Host China and defending champion Iran finished 1-2 in Group A and will clash with Singapore and Jordan, respectively.
The Taiwanese will have Japan as their first-round foe. Indonesia finished fifth in Group A and got the boot.
The Filipinos closed out the first half in a sloppy way and blew a 25-14 lead early in the second period by scoring just five points in the last six minutes of the quarter for a 30-30 score at the break.
De Ocampo hit two and Lee had one triple in a mild tear that had Gilas streaking to that 11-point lead.
A national team first-timer, Lee dropped 16 points and topscored for the Filipinos for the third straight day. He did commit five turnovers in just 20 minutes coming off the bench.
Marcus Douthit and De Ocampo finished in twin digits for the first time in the tournament with 13 and 14, respectively, with the duo combining for 15 of the Filipinos’ 39 rebounds.
Al-Sous, a wily guard who has been part of the Jordanian squad since the last decade, scored 14 points. Wright had 11 despite going 3-for-12 from the field.
The scores:
GILAS PILIPINAS 71—Lee 16, De Ocampo 14, Douthit 13, Dillinger 9, Belga 7, Tenorio 4, David 4, Alas 2, Fajardo 2, Aguilar 0, Lanete 0, Washington 0.
JORDAN 70—Al-Sous 14, Al Dwairi 13, Wright 11, Alwadi 9, Alhamarsheh 7, Hussein 7, Eid 7, Abu Ruqayah 2, Abdeen 0, Alnajjar 0, Hadrab 0, Abuqoura 0.
Quarters: 17-12; 30-30; 49-52; 71-70
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