MANILA—Smart Gilas Pilipinas unleashed a ferocious second-half surge to crush the Westsports Kuala Lumpur Dragons of Malaysia, 95-64, last night to seal its place in the quarterfinals of the Fiba-Asia Champions Cup at the PhilSports Arena.
Surprisingly struggling in the first two periods, the Nationals turned to JV Casio, Asi Taulava and Chris Lutz, who keyed a third-quarter binge that boosted the Filipinos to their second straight win for the solo lead in Group A.
Unforgiving on the defensive end, the Nationals ran the fastbreak at every opportunity and went on to outscore the Malaysians, 59-24, in the last two periods.
“If we play that way in the second half, we’ll be in a good spot to win the tournament,” said Dondon Hontiveros, who finished with 10 points in a starting role after going 1-of-11 in the 86-59 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad Saturday.
The Nationals take a break today before battling the Iraqi team Duhuk tomorrow.
Trailing 39-40 at the break, the Nationals seized control after Lutz made two difficult layups that was followed by two triples by Casio. Another 7-0 spurt propelled Smart Gilas to a 58-44 lead after Casio’s third straight triple.
While the Nationals put the clamps on Marcus Morrison, they found difficulty dealing with the Dragons’ other import, Christopher Ayer, who poured 15 of his 31 points in the first half to keep his team in the game.
“We were surprised (at the way Malaysia played),” said Toroman. “It’s a good warning for us to take games more seriously.”
Al-Rayyan of Qatar gained a share of the lead in Group B with a comprehensive 90-67 victory over Al-Jalaa of Syria earlier, while Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia rebounded from a crushing defeat to Smart Gilas with an 83-75 dumping of Iraqi club Duhuk.
The Qataris unveiled a gem of an import in crafty guard Chauncey Leslie, who shot 30 points, including 22 in the first half.
Al-Riyadi of Lebanon, starring the legendary Fadi El-Khatib, routed Al-Shabbab of the United Arab Emirates, 109-90, Saturday night.
The scores:
First Game
SAUDI ARABIA (AL-ITTIHAD) 83—Dragajlovic 27, Aljuhani 21, Kabe 10, Keely 9, Ibrahim 9, Almaghrabi 5, Almadani 2, Alqonisi 0, Alhosawi 0.
IRAQ (DUHUK) 75—Gray 22, Giles 16, Al-Doori 10, Gorgiss 8, Mahdi 7, Agha 5, Mahdi 5, Al-Tameemi 2, Hamad 0.
Quarters: 21-20, 37-37, 57-50, 83-75
Second Game
QATAR (AL-RAYYAN) 90—Leslie 30, Musa 21, Ngombo 17, Ndour 11, Abdulla 6, Ali 3, Saeed 2, Matalkeh 0, Salem 0.
SYRIA (AL-JALAA) 67—Papazian 20, Haj Ishak 11, Yaqqub 10, Madanly 8, Miller 6, Deeb 5, Walker 5, Georges 2, Yakoub 0.
Quarters: 20-14, 47-32, 74-51, 90-67
Third Game
PHILIPPINES (Smart Gilas) 95—Tiu 11, Barroca 10, Casio 10, Hontiveros 10, Baracael 10, Lutz 10, Douthit 9, Lassiter 8, Aguilar 6, Ababou 5, Taulava 4, Ballesteros 2.
MALAYSIA (KL Dragons) 64—Ayer 31, Morrison 22, Kwaan 7, Batumali 5, Ooi 2, Loh 2, Ng 2, Kamaruddin 0, Ho 0.
Quarters: 20-15, 39-40, 65-49, 95-64