PH cagers make noise Amid quiet big dome

Japeth Aguilar has played a lot of games with Barangay Ginebra and he knows one thing to be certain: When the Japeth riseth, he bringeth the house down.

But the house stayed still Monday evening, when Aguilar anchored a scorching Philippines fight-back in the second half of a 92-81 victory over Qatar in their Fiba World Cup qualifying showdown at a sealed-off Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Instead, the cheers came from the Gilas Pilipinas bench and behind it, as the Nationals battled back from a 17-point deficit to stay a step ahead of Japan—owner of a stunning 70-56 upset over Iran earlier in the day in Tokyo—in the footrace for the No. 3 spot in their group.

“It was weird, in a way,” the 6-foot-9 beanpole told the Inquirer in Filipino. “Normally, we’d be energized by the crowd with (plays like that).

The Philippines, scolded by Fiba for a brawl with Australia during their qualifying match last July, was penalized with a closed-door home game against Qatar.

“It was surreal,” coach Yeng Guiao told the Inquirer.

In all his years of coaching in the PBA, Guiao had always thought of the so-called “sixth man” of the popular Ginebra team as the Kings’ psychological crutch. But as the Philippines tried to assemble rally after rally in an abysmal first half, Guiao finally understood the concept as something more tangible.

“At some point when we were down, we were looking for something to grab and hold on to, something that a loud crowd would have given us,” said Guiao.