Canadians drub Gilas in Jones Cup opener

TAIPEI – Using its advantage in size and athletic ability to offset its lack in chemistry, Canada 150 on Saturday afternoon put Gilas Pilipinas’ title aspirations in the 39th Jones Cup Invitational in serious jeopardy after a 90-77 drubbing of the Filipinos at Taipei Peace Basketball Hall here.

The experienced Canadians, a merry mix of stars assembled recently from teams in the National Basketball League of Canada, held the Filipinos to just 14 second quarter points to scoot away and get their own bid off on the right foot.

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Gilas groped for form practically all game, even if it led by a hair after the first period as the Filipinos simply found it too hard penetrating with the Canadians clogging the lanes effectively well.

Reyes huddles Gilas at end of 1st quarter. “We’re up by one and yet we had seven turnovers.” Asks Filipinos to take care of the ball better. pic.twitter.com/JYYcBTynFK

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) July 15, 2017

Next up for the Philippines is Chinese Taipei’s national team on Sunday and the Filipinos will be playing on borrowed time from now on as they can’t afford to take another loss and expect to win.

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This 10-team, nine-nation event will be just a single round tournament where the team with the most wins after nine playing days wins the championship.

Using the name Mighty Sports last year, the Philippines swept this tournament with an import-laden crew led by former NBA All-Rookie Team member Al Thornton.

Despite committing seven of its 22 turnovers in the first period, the Filipinos were able to take a 20-19 lead into the second, only for the Canadians to finally find their rhythm and assert their character.

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That, despite coming into the tournament with the benefit of four hours of practice together.

“I really didn’t know what to expect coming over here,” coach Kyle Julius, a member of the Canadian national team from 2005-2007, said. “But they played hard and it resulted in a win.”

Joey Haywood fed Michale Kyser for a two-handed alley-oop slam with 6:45 left that capped a 7-0 spurt for the Canadians and made it a 75-60 game, which basically put the game to bed.

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“I’m happy with the effort we came up with,” Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes said as his young crew matched up pretty well. He, however, pointed out to the 40 free throws that the Filipinos gave up which spelled the difference.

“You can’t give up 40 free throws against a quality team like that and expect to win,” Reyes said.

Keifer Ravena, who is set to turn pro in the coming PBA season, paced the Filipinos with 12 points, with Bobby Ray Parks shooting 11 and Carl Bryan Cruz chipping in 10.

The scores:

Canada 90 – Williamson 15, Haywood 12, Kapelan 12, Smith 9, Wood 9, Friesen 8, Sutherland 5, Keith 4, Mordan 2, Bachyski 2

Gilas 77 – Ravena 12, Parks 11, Cruz 10, Wright 9, Standhardinger 9, Jalalon 5, Myers 7, Paras 4, Pogoy 4, Ferrer 3, Belo 3, Jose 0

Quarterscores: 19-20; 44-34; 66-54, 90-77