Smart Gilas Pilipinas falls short anew, loses bronze to South Korea

Kim Joo Sung (L) and Moon Tae Jong (R) of South Korea defend Marcus Douthit of the Philippines (C) during their bronze medal match. South Korea defeated the Philippines 70-68. AFP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines lost even its last sliver of hope to make it to the prestigious 2012 London Olympics.

Missed free throws down the stretch keyed in the doom of Smart Gilas as it absorbed a crushing 68-70 defeat Sunday by South Korea and settled for fourth place in the Fiba Asia championship.

Only the first and second runners-up will get a crack at the 2012 Fiba World Olympic qualifiers, which will consist of 12 nations from all continents and will stake three wild card berths to the Olympics next year.

The Philippines squandered an 11-point lead and bungled five of its last eight attempts from the line, which allowed the hotshooting Koreans to run away with the come-from-behind triumph.

Despite posting a stellar stat line of 27 points and 22 rebounds, Marcus Douthit split his crucial free throws twice in the last 40 seconds when the Philippines trailed behind the Koreans for the first time.

Slasher Marcio Lassiter, who was instrumental in the Nationals’ run to the semifinals, also botched one of the two freebies, which could have tied the game with nine ticks left even as PBA reinforcement Kelly Williams missed both with 29 ticks.

Jimmy Alapag, who smoked hot from beyond the arch with five triples for a 17-point total, went scoreless in the remaining minutes since he gave Gilas a 54-43 advantage with 7:23 in the fourth quarter.

Smart Gilas, which entered the semifinals of the continental Olympic qualifier for the first time in 24 years, led by as many as 12 points in the third quarter on an inside drive by Douthit.

Cho Seong-min paced the Koreans with 20 points including seven unanswered points down the stretch followed up by a step-back trey by TJ Moon, which gave them their first lead, 67-65, with 47 ticks left.

The Koreans had a hard time getting past the four-point barrier for most of the fourth quarter until Cho caught fire.

THE SCORES:

Korea, 70 – Cho, 20; Kim, 14; Oh, 9; Moon. 8; Kang, 8; J.Kim, 7; Lee, 2; Y. Kim, 1; Yang, 1; Park, 0.

Philippines, 68 – Douthit, 27; Alapag, 17; Williams, 9; Lutz, 5; De Ocampo, 3; Tiu, 2; Casio, 2; Baracael, 2; Lassiter, 1; Taulava, 0.

QUARTERS SCORES: 7-14, 17-24, 36-47, 70-68.