Lebanon barely slips past RP 5

THE SMART GILAS Pilipinas five came within seconds of a momentuous conquest of Lebanon before the host team salvaged an 81-80 squeaker in their semifinal duel in the Fiba Asian Stankovic Cup in Beirut Saturday. The Filipinos, already assured of their best finish in a continental tournament, had possession with 8.1 seconds left but a swarming Lebanese defense denied Smart Gilas the potential game-winning shot. Under tremendous pressure, JV Casio was forced to pass off to the hot-shooting Marcio Lassiter, who failed to launch an attempt at the final buzzer. Although the referee called a foul, game officials ruled there was no time left when the whistle came. The scrambling win allowed Lebanon to advance to the title match against Japan, which downed Qatar, 78-76, in overtime in the other duel. “This is the best game that we played since I became coach of Smart Gilas,” said RP coach Rajko Toroman. “The players’ fighting spirit was there, which I didn’t see in a long time.” The Filipinos nailed 15 three-pointers against Lebanon with Lassiter draining seven for a team-high 25 points. Casio scored 17 while Chris Tiu, who went four of six from beyond the arc, finished with 16. The Filipinos now fight for the bronze medal Sunday against Qatar, which beat them, 66-61, in the eliminations. Lebanon led by as many as 75-65 with six minutes to go before Lassiter, Mac Baracael and Tiu unloaded three-pointers that pushed the Filipinos within 77-78, with 1:32 left. Fadi El Khatib made a pair of free throws and Ronnie Fahed split his charities in the final 18.6 seconds, while Casio made three of his four foul shots on the other end to make it 80-81. Forced to stop the clock, the Filipinos put El Khatib back to the charity stripe but Lebanon’s top player flubbed his shots.  Smart Gilas grabbed the rebound and then called a timeout with 8.1 seconds left.   The scores: LEBANON 81—Khatib 25, Vroman 23, Stephan 10, El Nour 7, Fakhreddine 7, Fahed 4, Rustom 3, Kanaan 2, Mahmoud 0. PHILIPPINES 80—Lassiter 25, Casio 17, Tiu 16, Baracael 8, Barroca 5, Taulava 5, Aguilar 3, Ababou 1, Ballesteros 0. Quarters: 27-22, 49-45, 67-62, 81-80