POINT guard Jimmy Alapag leads all Filipino scores with 25 points. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
INCHEON, South Korea—For a fleeting moment in the third period, Gilas Pilipinas, although benching Marcus Douthit, had managed to pull the ripcord and release a 16-point parachute that arrested what had been a freefall in the 17th Asian Games so far.
But Korea’s gunners, led by Moon Taejong and Yang Heejong began slashing at that chute and sent the Philippines crashing to a 97-95 defeat that nearly doused the semifinal hope the Nationals were harboring Saturday in the men’s basketball tournament at Samsan World Gymnasium.
That hope flickered later in the evening when Kazakhstan turned back Qatar, 65-57. If Gilas Pilipinas beats Kazakhstan by more than 10 points Sunday at Hwaseong Sports Complex gym and Korea downs Qatar at Samsan, the Philippines will qualify as the No. 2 seed in the semifinals.
“The entire responsibility [of the loss] falls on my shoulder,” said national coach Chot Reyes. “I apologize. I know there were a lot of expectations coming into this but that’s sports. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose.”
There certainly was little else to blame as Reyes set everything up so that the team would rise or fall on no one else’s shoulders: Citing “disciplinary reasons,” Reyes went ahead and benched Douthit, who was ready to play and could have—at the very least—provided some sort of an advantage against Korea’s inexperienced frontline.
“I was prepared; I was ready to play,” Douthit said as he headed to the team bus after the game. “But when the coach makes a decision, there’s nothing you can really say.”
Douthit drew Reyes’ ire when he played below par in Gilas’ unexpected 77-68 loss to Qatar Friday.
Gilas Pilipinas looked like it would avoid all the complication when it bolted out of the halftime break on a shooting binge, knocking three-pointers to unlock the Korean zone and turning a seven-point lead into a 65-49 spread going into the last six minutes of the third period.
“We tried 2-3 and 3-2 zone but the Philippines was making its shots,” said Korean coach Yoo Jae-hak through an interpreter.
And the defense was starting to home in on Moon, who torched the Philippines with 21 points in the first half.
That was when Yang made his presence felt. He drained a triple to cut the lead to 13, but Gilas Pilipinas found an answer in a Ranidel de Ocampo three that kept the lead at 16 points.
But Yang hit another three-pointer and he joined hands with playmaker Kim Tae-sul in a huge rally that trimmed a 16-point PH lead into a slim 72-71 edge going into the final quarter. The hosts took just five minutes to shave those 15 points off Gilas Pilipinas’ lead.
“We switched to one-on-one defense and it worked,” Yoo told reporters.
And it was in that switch that Gilas Pilipinas could have used a little of Douthit. Yoo admitted that his centers were too raw for Asian-level competition and Douthit could have been a big advantage at the post when Korea abandoned its zone defense.
By then, it was too late to call up the New York-born 6-foot-11 center.
June Mar Fajardo and LA Tenorio presided on a mini tear at the start of the fourth period that helped the team erect a 78-71 spread.
But Moon finally broke free of the Gilas shackles and bunched 10 Korea points to give the hosts an 84-82 lead.
As he had done in the first half, Jimmy Alapag carried the Gilas fight against Moon, scoring off a pair of drives that tied the match one last time at 88. But after a Tenorio split gave the Philippines its last lead, Yang had a basket and a dagger triple on opposite ends of a missed Alapag triple to send the Nationals to yet another tearful heartbreaking loss to their fierce Asian rival.
The scores:
SOUTH KOREA 97—Moon 38, Cho 17, Kim TS, 16, Yang HJ 10, Oh 10, Kim JK 6, Kim JS 0, Kim SH 0, Lee 0, Yang DG 0, Park 0
GILAS PILIPINAS 95—Alapag 25, Tenorio 20, Chan 16, Fajardo 12, De Ocampo 11, Norwood 5, Pingris 4, Aguilar 2, Dillinger 0, David 0, Lee 0.
Quarters: 18-22, 44-51, 71-72, 97-95